


Lost in Time.

by springburn



Series: Random musings from The Capaldi character file. [9]
Category: Crossover Fandom, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Local Hero
Genre: 1980's Alternate universe, Abandonment, Building Relationship, F/M, Gen, Loss, Love, Peter Capaldi character file, Rated Explicit for later chapters, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-03 12:22:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5290622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springburn/pseuds/springburn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is wrong with the Tardis......she doesn't want to be where She's landed.<br/>Clara soon finds out why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abandonment.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this was the start of it all for me. In 1983 when this wonderful little film called Local Hero was released.  
> I fell in love with a dork called Danny Oldsen. 
> 
> There will be references throughout to scenes in the film, like the rabbit, and the ceilidh, and allusions to Danny's character. Although Peter was 23/24 when the film was made, book Danny is older, around 28/29 so I'm sticking with that. 
> 
> From the Doctor Who point of view the story takes place in season nine after The Girl Who Died/Lived, when Clara rejoins the Doctor in the Tardis.

LOST IN TIME. 

 

Thrown from side to side as if they were on a fairground waltzer.  
Clara clung first to the console itself, then to The Doctor's coat sleeve.  
"She's not happy! Not happy at all!" He cried, as he braced himself once more.  
They came to rest with a disconsolate clunk, smoke billowing from one of the panels.  
"Where are we?" Clara coughed, pinching her nose against the acrid smell.  
"Scotland, 1983.....but she's not happy......she doesn't want to be here!" He retorted, caressing the keypad with a tender hand.  
"I'll have to find somewhere safe to park her up, do some repairs." He brushed smuts from his coat as he moved to walk up the stairs.  
"So we'll be staying then?" Clara crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
"Don't think we've got much choice." He returned, over his shoulder, as he reached the top step. 

Clara was, by now, an old hand at this lark. She would make sure she was well prepared, and provided for.  
On previous aborted adventures she'd been stranded without money or clean underwear, and was not prepared to go through that again.  
She packed a small overnight bag, collected the correct currency for the year, and put on her jacket and some sturdy boots.  
They emerged into the gloomy light.  
Setting down the bag at her feet, she turned to survey the still steaming Tardis.  
"Stay there, I'll just fetch my sonic shades and a couple of other essentials." He said, his hand smoothing down the wood of the outside door lovingly.  
No sooner had he disappeared inside, than the door clamped shut behind him with a bang, and the Blue Box began to dematerialise.  
The last thing she heard was a cry of indignation from him, then her name, yelled aloud.  
With a flurry of leaves and a gust of wind, the Tardis was gone. 

She stood for several moments, staring angrily at the vacant spot, before turning, with a resigned sigh, and picking up her bag.  
Abandoned. Again.  
This was becoming a habit.  
Clara was angry, she wasn't sure exactly who with, but she was most definitely miffed.  
He'd done it to Amy. Twelve bloody years! Well, she wasn't waiting twelve anything.  
Damn him. Damn him to hell. 

The road was narrow, sheep grazing contentedly, and without restriction on either side of the verge.  
She could see a small village, houses, a church, a harbour. A restless grey sea, swelling in and out rhythmically.  
Walking down the slope, she came to a broken sign. 

_"Ferness. Please drive slowly."_

Clara frowned to herself, 'God, it's going to be like the League of bloody Gentlemen!' she thought.  
The village was quiet. Actually it was dead.  
At least there was an inn cum hotel of sorts, there was nothing for it but to procure a room and hope The Doctor came back for her!  
And if he didn't? Well.....he didn't. 

oOo

The last of the Knox Oil and Gas boffins had finally left.  
Excitement over. As the whine of the chopper faded into the distance, Danny wandered back along the beach alone.  
At least he'd managed to persuade the great and mighty Felix Happer to agree to the "Happer Institute", an oceanographic research facility combined with an astronomical observatory.  
He was, justifiably, quite proud of himself.  
There was, he had to admit, an ulterior motive. The hope that he might see the lovely Marina again.  
He was rather enamoured with Marina.  
Actually he was rather enamoured with most women, but for some reason, unfathomable, they were less taken with him.  
When he finally caught up with her and excitedly told her the news, she was happy, but somewhat less animated than he hoped. She'd then dropped the bombshell, she was moving to Australia at the end of the month, to study the Great Barrier Reef. It was all pre-arranged. 

Bugger! 

So it was that when Clara Oswald entered the small Hotel, he was seated alone and miserable at a table for one, shovelling a late breakfast into his face.  
The fork stopped, suspended in the air between plate and mouth, when he first clapped eyes on her.  
For several seconds it remained there, until the morsel fell off with a splat and landed in his baked beans, spattering his shirt and tie.  
She smiled gently to herself, as she watched him frantically sponging at his front with his napkin. 

"Morning Miss!"  
Gordon Urquhart, Hotel Manager, accountant, and more or less anything else you might wish to title him, greeted her warmly.  
"Morning! I wonder, do you have a room?" Clara dropped her bag down with a flourish.  
"For how long?" He enquired, leaning on the counter.  
"Who bloody knows!" She huffed, " a week, two maybe? I honestly can't say."  
"Holiday?" He asked.  
"Stranded!" She replied, matter of factly. 

Danny, who had finished food shovelling, now came to her side.  
"Allow me to introduce myself." He held out a hand. "Oldsen, Danny. I'm staying here too. You must let me to show you the sights."  
Urquhart grinned, then spluttered with evident mirth.  
It was the first opportunity for Clara to look at him at close quarters. 

Her eyes widened when she did so. He looked so familiar, scarily and amazingly familiar. 

It was the eyes mainly. Eyes don't really change that much, and perhaps the eyebrows.  
He was awkward, and rather ungainly.  
Tall, slim and rangy, gangly almost. His limbs all seemed too big for him. As if he was yet to become accustomed to them.  
Long legs, big feet, thin arms, large hands. His expression hopeful, boyish and gauche, perhaps a little shy.  
She particularly noticed the hair too......a spectacular mane of chestnut, a veritable abundance of magnificent fluffiness.  
In her minds eye she could see that same hair, only salt and pepper grey.  
Clara swallowed thickly. 

No wonder the Tardis didn't want to be here. 

Some moments passed, as her brown eyes swept over him, and the silence hung in the air between them.  
Before something snapped, and she coughed politely, doing her best to cover her surprise and confusion. Reaching her own hand to take his,  
"Clara Oswald." She stammered. "Pleased to meet you."  
Even the fingers felt well known, the skin cool, neat manicured nails.  
She was rendered speechless, unable to tear her gaze from his.  
Joined by his wife Stella, she and Urquhart viewed this little scene with an ill disguised hint of amusement.  
"A drink?" He offered eventually.  
"I think I need a large brandy." She breathed, "and a sit down."  
Without relinquishing her hand, he led her to his table, pulling out a chair.  
Lowering herself down heavily, the glass of dark liquid was placed in front of her.  
Gordon became concerned.  
"You alright Miss? You look like you've seen a ghost?"  
Clara rallied.  
"Er, yes! Sorry! I'm fine......just for a moment there.....I thought........I thought I knew......." Her voice trailed away. 

Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.


	2. Ferness.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara goes for a walk along the beach with Danny, and meets an enigmatic stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm enjoying writing this. It feels good to be doing a multi chapter again! I have a few one word notes for future chapters now and a little idea of where I'm heading.....but not enough to remove the fear feeling!!

Chapter Two.   
Ferness. 

Staring at her own face in the mirror. Clara frowned.   
Having been shown to her room she filled the sink and stuck her head into the cool water.   
It seemed to bring her back to life.   
She wasn't imagining it was she? It was him.   
Only young.   
Her age probably, although he could be fifteen!   
God! What a bloody mess! 

What if The Doctor never came back? What if she were stuck here? In 1983.   
Feeling sideways blindly for the towel, she pulled it from the rack and dried herself off.   
Sat down on the edge of the bed.   
There was absolutely nothing she could do, except wait. And hope. 

Returning to the Lounge Bar, she could see Danny hovering expectantly.   
He brightened visibly at the sight of her, and hurried over.   
"Are you okay?"   
His face had an eagerness about it, his movements jerky and uncoordinated.   
Like an excited puppy.   
"I'm fine! I'd like some air though." She skirted the tables and chairs, heading for the door.   
"I'll come with you!" He rushed ahead of her, holding the door open before she could reach it.   
"There's not much to see in the village, but the beach is lovely."   
"Beach it is then!" She smiled, ducking under his arm and out into the grey dour day, the breeze whipping at her hair.   
They set off together, him loping along at her side, bouncing as he walked, arms flaying about wildly as he spoke.   
"I was here for the big Oil deal." He explained." I work for the Knox company, based in Aberdeen."  
"You're from Glasgow though, right?" She queried.  
"Yes! How did you know?" His eyes bright and twinkly.   
"Trust me, I know the accent." She smiled.   
"So it fell through then? The deal?" She continued, as they traversed the slip way and stepped onto the sand.   
"Yes. The old boy......Ben......who lives up there......." He pointed vaguely along the curve of the beach.   
"........refused to sell. He owns the whole strand, an ancient rite given by The Lord of the Isles, apparently. Daft old sod."   
"Sounds eminently sensible to me." Clara reasoned, as she walked to the waters edge, and stood gazing out over the churning sea. "It's beautiful here. It would be spoiled forever, with an ugly refinery."   
"So much prosperity for the area though. Jobs, infrastructure, everything." Danny mused, his own eyes following the line of hers towards the horizon.   
"Wealth isn't everything." She answered, reflectively.   
"Usually the people who say that, have plenty!" He replied, absentmindedly picking up a flattish stone, and trying a wrist flick to send it skipping across the waters surface.   
It plopped into the waves disappointingly.   
Clara glared at him in mock disgust.  
"That's not how you skim a stone, you hold it between your fingers.....thus!"   
She selected a suitable pebble, and taking his hand, she pushed it into his fingers, curling them around it with her own.   
"There! Like that, now hold your arm curved away from you."   
"I know how to throw a stone Clara." He retorted. "I've had a six skipper before!"   
Clara laughed heartily.   
"Fibber! There's no way you'd get a sixer chucking it the way you just did. You'd be lucky to achieve two!"   
Taking a nice smooth one herself, she turned sideways on to the water and threw it. It skipped four times then disappeared.   
She watched, satisfied. Then turned back towards him, triumphant.   
"You're good.......for a girl." He remarked.   
"For a girl!! Bloody cheek! I'm a darn sight better at it than you! You're a dork!"   
His face changed, he looked utterly deflated.  
Clara was sorry she'd spoken so hastily.   
"I'm sorry." She said, kindly. "That was uncalled for. I didn't mean it. So. Tell me, how did you end up working for Knox?"   
He glanced back at her, shy, still a little hurt, the injured tone there in his voice......just as The Doctor did, when she'd been mean or harsh with him.   
Clara bit her lip at the recollection.  
"Well, it's on account of my languages, mainly." He said quietly, recommencing his walk, kicking at the sand and pebbles with his feet. Hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets.   
"Languages?" She questioned.   
"Yes. I have a facility with languages." He replied, "I speak eight."  
"EIGHT!" Clara exclaimed, grabbing his arm and stopping him in his tracks.   
"Seriously?"  
"I kid you not." He replied, his tone from earlier having lost its melancholy edge.   
"Blimey!" She continued her strolling.   
"What are they then?" She asked, tilting her head so that she could look into his face.   
Momentarily he did that strange curling thing with his lip, which she took to mean he was considering, then he replied, counting off on his fingers as he spoke.   
"Well, there's French and German of course, that goes without saying."   
Clara couldn't suppress a giggle....."of course not!" She laughed.  
He ignored her, and carried on.  
"Spanish and Russian, then I speak Japanese and Mandarin.....very useful, in the oil business. Then I can get by fairly well in Arabic......and English, naturally."  
"Naturally!" Clara was, frankly, astonished, never judge a book by its cover, her grandmother used to say. Wise woman, her grandmother.  
Before she could question him further, or ask for a practical demonstration, and old man emerged from a ramshackle beach hut, some way up ahead of them, and made his way across the sand, whistling as he came.   
"Oh, hell! It's Ben!" Danny groaned.   
Dressed in rather faded clothing, wearing a navy sailors cap with a peak, the aforesaid Ben, ambled over towards them.   
"Well! Danny! I'd have thought you'd be on your way back to the Metropolis by now!"   
"No. I'm staying on a few days, maybe a week." He replied, embarrassed, and glancing shiftily at Clara.   
"Aren't you going to introduce me?" He asked, staring pointedly at her, a curious expression passing over his face, holding a rather oily hand out as he spoke.   
"Sorry! Yes.....of course......Ben Knox.....this is Clara......Clara Oswald. She's here on holiday."   
They shook hands, but as Clara tried to separate, he clung on to her fingers, bringing his other hand to cup over the top firmly.   
"Come and have tea!" He smiled gently, eventually releasing her.   
There was no refusing, the old man immediately headed back up the beach the way he'd come, whistling loudly and tunelessly again.   
The cabin was stiflingly hot. But surprisingly well appointed, considering the way it looked from the outside.  
Steaming mugs were placed in front of them, and the old sea dog, sat down, across from Clara, regarding her quizzically.   
She began to feel uncomfortable under the piercing blue of his gaze.   
"You've travelled very very far." His eyes stayed on her face.   
"I.......yes. I have.......I guess." She faltered.   
Danny remained silent, mesmerised.   
The air in the hut seemed suddenly dense and cloying.   
"You've seen many things. Things that people should never see, things that leave a mark." He added.   
Clara could feel her eyes begin to sting. Was it the smoke from the fire?   
"Light and dark. Fire and water. Sunshine and shadow. So very far. All the way to the stars and back." A velvet hush fell in the small room, the only sound the tinkling embers from the fire.   
A single tear coursed down her cheek, and remained unchecked.   
"I see rage and pain, I see comradeship, I see deep love. All there in those dark eyes."   
Words stuck in Clara's throat, she couldn't speak. Locked as she was under his penetrating stare.   
"Goodness! Are you a psychic? Do you have the gift of clairvoyance?" Danny interjected, with a scoff.  
"Stars and back, indeed!"  
The spell was broken. The old man seemed to diminish, and sat back with a sigh.   
Clara felt as though she'd been interrogated. Her mind exhausted, heart thumping wildly in her chest.  
"We must be getting back." She breathed. "Thank you for the tea."   
They rose to leave.   
"You know where to find old Ben, if you need a chat anytime, little lady." His parting gesture as they walked away.   
Danny trotted along after her, as she marched purposefully across the shingle.  
"What the hell was all that about?" He wondered aloud.   
"I'm not quite sure." Clara replied, "but whatever it was he was spot on!"   
Together they made their way back to the Hotel.


	3. Dinner for Two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the hotel, Danny and Clara share their evening meal......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My updates on this story may be a little further apart than usual, for various reasons......my time is not my own at the moment, writing time is at a premium! I will try to write as often as possible but it may take me a day or two to complete a chapter.  
> Also I'm writing the tale as I go, off the top of my head, with no real ultimate goal, so I have to go with the flow!!

Chapter Three.   
Dinner for Two. 

The weather took a turn for the worse. Wind and rain sweeping in off the Atlantic, squalls battered the little village mercilessly.   
Evening came early that day.   
Clara sat on her bed, staring at the blank screen of her mobile phone.   
Utterly useless......"no service".  
She would keep it charged just in case.   
Eventually hunger forced her downstairs; there, seated, nervous and fidgety, was Danny.   
Clara scotched the urge to give an eye roll.   
There seemed to be no avoiding him, in this one horse town.   
He rose as she entered, pushing back his chair and coming forwards to greet her.   
At least he'd changed out of that hideous brown plaid suit. He was wearing casual slacks and a shirt, with a fine knit sweater over the top.   
Quite an improvement.   
His hair brushed smoothly......well, as smoothly as it's volume would allow.   
"Join me?" He asked, his voice ever hopeful and keen.   
Clara forced a smile.   
"Okay! Thanks." He pulled the chair back for her, and she sat down.   
Seated opposite her, he flashed her one of his little crooked half grins, it really did things to her heart strings.   
Just like Him. Things obviously didn't change. 

Gordon Urquhart wandered in from the kitchen, with a cheery 'good evening'.  
Danny sat back in his seat and folded his arms, regarding 'mine host' with a diffident air.   
"What's on the menu tonight then, Urquhart? Not rabbit I hope!"   
Clara glanced from one to the other, eyebrows raised questioningly.   
Danny turned to her and explained.  
"Mr Urquhart cooked Trudy, or Harry, depending on the poor things' gender....it didn't live long enough for us to find out!" He scowled.   
"Sorry!" She said, " I haven't a clue what you're on about."   
"Our new friend isn't in on your sorry little tale Oldsen." Gordon replied, with a thinly disguised smirk.   
"He hit a rabbit in the road, Miss Oswald, it wasn't dead, but it might as well've been.....he had the bloody thing upstairs in his room. I found it, put it out of its misery, and popped it in the pot. End of story."   
Clara burst out laughing.   
"What he neglected to say was, that he didn't tell us.....and we had him/her for dinner that night!"  
Danny exclaimed with an injured tone......."it was horrible......I'll never look at rabbit the same way again."  
"You enjoyed it until you found out it was Trudy!" The landlord retorted.   
"Anyway!" He clapped his hands with finality." Tonight Stella has a fine piece of Aberdeen Angus, and Cullen Skink to start.   
"Sounds delicious." Said Clara. "Bring it on." 

The soup was served with Stella's home made soda bread, and was really very good indeed.  
The diners set to in silence, until the last drops were chased around the bowl with the spoon.   
"So.....Clara Oswald.....what do you do?" Danny asked, eventually, politely wiping the corners of his mouth with his napkin and brushing crumbs from his lap.   
"I'm a secondary school teacher......in London."   
He nodded sagely.  
"Which subject?"  
"English."   
"How on earth did you wind up in Ferness?" Danny sat back as Stella came to take their empty plates away.   
"It's a long story. But let's just say, I was travelling.....with a friend, and we got separated."   
"What's her name.....this friend?"   
Oh, but you are clever! Clara thought, how to find out whether I'm attached in any way, without actually asking the question.   
"HE calls himself The Doctor." She replied cagily.   
A flicker of disappointment clouded Danny's features for a moment, but he quashed it.   
"The Doctor? But what is his actual name?"   
"I just call him Doctor. He doesn't really use a proper name."   
"That's a bit weird." Danny pondered, as their steaks arrived. "Is he a boyfriend friend or just a friend friend?"   
"He's not my boyfriend!" She replied, a little too hastily. "But we've travelled together for a while now and he is my best friend, I guess."   
A wistful gaze came over her, which Danny noticed straight away.   
"You love him though!" He stated, with a mouthful of hot chip.   
Clara considered.   
"I guess. But it's not like that, we're not like that. That's not what we are......we are just.......I don't know!"   
She ended lamely.   
Danny offered no further comment, but continued scoffing his food rapidly.   
"A nice glass of red would go well with this." Clara remarked.   
She beckoned to Urquhart, who was propping up the bar.   
"I have a Bordeaux. Should be good with steak."   
"Great! Care for some?" She tilted the bottle towards her dining partner.  
"Okay, just a splash."   
She filled his glass.   
"So this friend, that you're not in love with......is he coming to find you, or what?"   
"I've no idea! And that's the truth. He will if he can, but I'm not sure if it's possible, I can't really be more specific I'm afraid. You wouldn't understand. It's complicated."   
"Try me!" He put down his cutlery and regarded her earnestly across the table.   
"Another time, maybe." Replied Clara, regretfully. " it's not something that's easy to tell, and I don't really want to think about it right now. It's all a bit new, and a bit sudden. The thought that I might actually be stuck here for a long time.......I can't really get my head around it. Sorry. Anyway....you'll be off back to Aberdeen.....is it? Where you work?"   
"I was going to stay on a few more days. I like it here, and I'm not needed back till the end of the week. The negotiations were expected to go on at least until then. I'm not always in Aberdeen, I go to London sometimes too. If you go back, perhaps I will see you there?"  
"Perhaps! I'll stay a bit. See if the Doctor shows up. If not I'll head to London, try and find work and somewhere to live."   
"But, I thought......." Danny's expression was confused.   
"Yes.....well, as I said, it's very complicated......but let's say, I'll have to start all over again."   
Clara suddenly felt very alone, and very melancholy. How had she ended up in this bloody awful situation?   
"Dessert?" A voice next to her elbow made her jump.   
"Not for me thanks. A coffee wouldn't go amiss though."   
"Make that two." Danny interjected. "Let's take it in the other room, the chairs are more comfortable."

They sat in silence, sipping occasionally.   
"I'm not very good company Danny, I'm sorry." Said Clara disconsolately.  
"You suddenly looked really sad back there." He replied, "is there anything I can do, to help? If there is, I will, you may be sure."   
His face was so open, so honest, and everything he said and did, every expression, every movement, reminded her of the Doctor.   
"You're really very sweet. And I'm grateful, there's not really anything. But I appreciate the sentiment, and your friendship, it's really very welcome, so thank you."   
He closed one of his large elegant hands over her own, and squeezed gently, a shy smile playing on his lips.   
The urge to lean into him, to let him put his arms around her, to comfort her, was strong. She resisted it with difficulty.   
"I think I'll go up to bed Danny, if you don't mind? It's been one hell of a day, and I'm weary."   
He released his grip, sitting back.   
"Of course! I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you sleep well."   
"I doubt I will. But thanks again. Night Danny."   
She rose to her feet, and they stood facing each other for a long moment.   
Eventually, she leaned in and brushed his cheek lightly with her lips.   
Oh Gods! He smelled like the Doctor too!   
"Night!" She whispered, and hurried quickly away.


	4. The Next Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny takes Clara to see the sights.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am weaving as many little nuggets from the film into this narrative as possible. Both from the point of view of events that happened just before Clara's arrival and aspects of Danny's character.
> 
> I have now worked out a proper plot line!!   
> I will update whenever possible!

Chapter Four.   
The Next Day.

After a restless and pretty much sleepless night, Clara emerged from her room very early.  
No one much was about.  
The storm and wind from the night before had blown itself out. The sun was shining weakly, casting a golden trail over the torrid sea.  
Clara set off for a run.   
She traversed the beach, where the sand was hard and there were no stones, totally in the zone. Unaware of everything except the beat of her heart and the catch of her breath.   
Her eyes stung and watered, but she put her head down and battled on.   
She must focus.   
Not overthink.   
Concentrate on the rhythm of her legs, the pounding of her blood in her veins.   
Forget everything else.

 

Returning, sweaty and puffed, she found the Urquhart's both up preparing for breakfasts.   
No sign of Danny.   
Her room lacked a proper shower, just a spray attachment fixed onto the bath taps.   
She dowsed herself thoroughly, washed her hair, then went in search of sustenance.

Still no Danny.   
Why was she even looking for him?   
Oh Clara! Don't do this! She admonished herself severely.   
But she had to admit, that his face, with its familiarity was the single good thing about being stuck here.  
He arrived shortly with a cavernous yawn.   
Stretching and scratching his unruly head.   
"You're up early!" He remarked casually, seating himself at her table without waiting to be asked.   
The full Scottish breakfast was placed before him, a veritable feast; bacon, fried egg, sausage, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans and potato cake, he tucked in with his usual exuberance.   
Clara watched, fascinated, as a trail of egg yolk slid gracefully down his tie, missing his napkin completely.  
"What can I get you, Miss?" Gordon appeared beside her elbow.  
"Please call me Clara. I'd like some porridge if that's possible please, and maybe some toast?"   
"Coming right up! Tea or coffee?"   
"Coffee, I think. Thank you Mr Urquhart."  
"If it's first name terms.....I'm Gordon, and my wife is Stella."   
"I'm staying on for a while." Danny announced suddenly, as if to the world in general.   
"I see." She replied, noncommittally.  
"I thought I could take you out, show you round the area. It's really quite beautiful, and I have a car."   
Clara looked into his earnest face, how could she disappoint him?   
"Okay. That would be nice." She smiled. 

oOo

The business of Danny filling his seemingly ever hungry stomach done with.   
The two set off in his car, heading out of the village and up into the surrounding hills.   
The area was heavily forested with hidden lochs and rushing streams, little hamlets nestled in the lee of the hillsides, small harbour towns hugged the coast.   
Danny pulled over in a lay by and they set off to walk to a large and murky loch, which he knew was some half a mile away.   
The clouds scudding overhead, began to break, and the sun peeped through, casting it's golden light on the water, as they reached the loch side, transforming it from grey to a translucent blue.   
The storm from the previous night had washed the air clean, making everything sharp and clear and pristine, standing out bright and distinct.   
Clara gasped with wonder as the suns light disappeared behind a cloud, chasing a shadow across the waters surface, like a magicians hand.   
She clutched Danny by the arm as she watched,  
"Gosh! Look at that! So beautiful!" She exclaimed. Danny looked down at her hand, then at her face, his countenance flustered, and surprised, yet inexpressively happy.  
They stood side by side for some moments, gazing out across the surface of the lake, ruffled by the stiffening breeze, a pair of grebe like two small sail boats, floated by near them, calling to each other as they paddled forwards.   
Without warning, the heavens opened, a squally shower tipping down onto their heads.   
Grabbing her by the hand, they sprinted for cover, Clara shrieked with mirth as she saw how Danny ran, his free arm flailing like a windmill, surging forwards, all movement from the knees, head bobbing comically, the same way she'd seen the Doctor run, (well, minus the flailing), so many times, always the running!   
They reached the shelter of the tree line, both laughing gleefully, breathless, damp and bedraggled.   
Danny's hair formed into little kiss curls, Clara's plastered against her head. His arm went around her shoulder, pulling her under the shelter of the canopy, trying to shield her from the downpour.   
Their eyes seemed to meet, lock and hold each other's, their smiles faded, giggles silenced. Without a word, he cupped her face in his hands, and bent to kiss her lips.   
Taken aback by this action, for a moment she didn't respond, but when the kiss deepened, she returned the favour. His arms came around her, holding her in place, until she was forced to break for air.   
The enormity of the act hit her immediately. She stumbled back, shocked by her own reaction as much as by his.  
"Danny.......I.........I.........why did you do that?"  
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, the feeling of tears pricking the backs of her eyes.   
"I'm sorry Clara." His expression injured, hurt and confused, "I wanted to do that ever since......"  
His voice faltered.   
"Ever since what? You only met me yesterday! You don't just.......you don't........you just don't!" She ended lamely.   
"Ever since last night." He concluded, "you looked so sad, so alone, and so.......well, kissable! I wanted to comfort you, and make you feel better, I wanted to show you I cared. That was all, I swear! I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did!"   
She had never kissed the Doctor, not like that, and he had never kissed her. Suddenly she realised how much she'd wanted him to. For a very long time. Oh, Lord! This was all such a mess.   
How had this happened? She wanted to scream with frustration.   
Her brow furrowed, a mixture of conflicting emotions sweeping across her face, in an instant, as Danny struggled to read them.   
"Clara, I'm sorry! Really. Truly sorry. It won't happen again, I promise. Oh God! I'm such an idiot. I've ruined everything. Please forgive me. Please Clara."   
Seeing his evident suffering, Clara reigned in her emotions.   
"Danny! Don't worry, I forgive you. It's not a problem, okay? You just took me by surprise, and for a moment I was confused, caught up in the moment."  
She took his arm, turning him back to face her.   
"Danny! Are you alright? It's okay, it was just a bit sudden, that's all. I wasn't expecting it, and then it kinda swept me along. But I'm fine now, I'm fine. I'm not angry with you."  
His face resembled a whipped puppy. Mouth contorted as he tried to process the information, bashful and awkward, shifting from foot to foot. Scuffing at the ground with one toe. Hands thrust into his pockets.   
"Let's go back to Ferness. I think we should. I've had enough excitement for one day."  
She said quietly, her hand reaching for his arm. He pulled away from her, as if the touch burned him.   
The action stung her deeply. The Doctor did it all the time.   
Clara wanted to rant and rave, cry and shout.   
"Where are you Doctor? For gods sake come and find me. This is all way out of hand."   
Instead she turned and marched stiffly back towards the parked car, without looking back.   
Danny trailed behind her like a dog, tail between his legs. Head down. Dejected. 

They drove back to the village in silence.   
Clara staring unseeing, out of the window.   
Upon reaching the Hotel, she climbed out of the car, murmured a brusque "See you later." And hurried inside.   
Straight up to her room. Throwing herself onto the bed, she wept.   
She was angry with herself. Angry with The Doctor, and angry with Danny, although neither deserved her wrath.   
This wasn't her at all. She was strong, resourceful. Clever. She coped. She did. She must. After half an hour, she was calm and rational again.   
Downstairs she found him sitting nervously in the bar. Pretending to read the newspaper.   
"Danny! Hi! Listen.....lets go for a walk. I need to say a few things."   
He looked sheepish, but acquiesced.   
In no time at all, they were strolling along the beach. Clara threaded her arm through his.   
"Danny. I'm sorry about earlier......no!" She raised her hand to prevent him interrupting.  
"No, let me finish. I am sorry. I must tell you, my life is pretty complicated right now. My friend, the Doctor, we were separated very suddenly, I don't know where he is, or if I'm ever going to see him again. I'm in a strange place, and I don't belong here, I don't know quite what I'm going to do, and I have to face the possibility that I might be stuck for good. In which case I have to build an entirely new life. On the other hand, he might come for me, in a day or two, and we'll be off travelling together again as if nothing had happened. Am I making any sense?"   
"I guess." Danny replied. He placed a hand over the arm that linked with his.   
"I'm trying to understand. I'm sorry I kissed you like that. It's just that you seemed to appear from nowhere, and you looked lost, in need of......of.......something. It was like you'd been sent from a dream. I guess I just felt reckless, and crazy, and.............you're very beautiful, you know! Has anyone ever told you that?"   
Clara smiled up at him.  
"Once or twice! But not for a while!" She replied.   
"Your Doctor fellow......he hasn't told you?"   
"No. I told you, we're not like that, we're friends, just......friends."   
Danny made no comment.   
Their walk was interrupted by the sight of Ben Knox coming towards them. He began to wave.   
"Oh no! What does that silly bugger want?" Danny groaned.   
Clara patted his arm.   
"You go back. I'll go and talk to him. I'll see you back at the Hotel. We'll have dinner together."   
He raised his eyebrows.  
"Really?"   
"Yes! Of course. I'll see you a bit later, say seven?"  
Danny's face brightened considerably.  
"Okay!" He answered eagerly. "See you later!"   
She watched him run away down the strand, with a smile, trotting along, arms twirling, a little penguin.   
Then she turned back towards Knox, who was beckoning her towards his wooden shack.


	5. Home Truths.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny goes back to the hotel. Clara has a heart to heart talk with the eccentric Ben Knox.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben is one of the best characters in Local Hero. Enigmatic, philosophical, ideal for a character in this story!!.........

Chapter Five.  
Home Truths. 

Ben ducked his head as he walked inside.   
It was stiflingly warm, the air thick and pungent.   
He set a browned and singed kettle on the stove, and bought out some white tin mugs with a blue stripe around the rim. Setting them onto a table made of old crates.   
"Well, little lady, how are you finding Ferness?"   
Motioning Clara to sit, he fetched an earthenware teapot and a canister of powdered milk, and waited for the kettle to sing.   
"It's.......different." She replied noncommittally.  
He laughed.  
"It would be!" He replied.   
"Danny was telling me that you took on the might of the great Felix Happer, and Knox Oil." She began.   
The old man laughed again.  
"Aye. Well! I just showed him an alternative, that's all. The refinery would have destroyed the village, and my home. I couldn't allow that."   
"Even so! He must have been a formidable adversary." Clara mused, as he handed her a steaming mug of builders tea.   
"I'm not afraid of the likes of him. They wined and dined me, the Urquhart's, and some of the other villagers, they thought their ship had come in." He peered across at her pointedly, "some people don't realise what they have until they no longer have it!"   
A lurch seemed to jolt through Clara's stomach at his words.   
"Danny seems to have taken quite a fancy to you!" He remarked, pushing back his sailors cap, and scratching his head deliberately.   
"He's sweet!" She said, thoughtfully. "I seem drawn to him somehow. It's complicated."   
The old sea dog smiled indulgently.  
"Not complicated at all. He reminds you of someone. But you must be careful.......ripples Clara, not tidal waves!"  
Clara looked up at him sharply, her brow furrowed in confusion.  
"What do you mean?" She replied, her tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of her mouth.  
"I think you know." His face was kindly as he took a seat across from her.  
"Give me your hand!" A gnarled and greasy palm was extended to her, and she took it reluctantly.  
"I have the gift of sight." His eyes searched hers, bright pinpoints in the gloom of the shack.  
"Back through the generations. I see pictures in my head. Visions if you like. Things that were, things that are, and things that will be." As he spoke, his voice deep and measured, the scots lilt, warm and soft, his thumb rubbed over the back of her hand soothingly.   
"I saw it as soon as you walked in yesterday, it was so strong, it hit me, I almost reeled under the weight of it. Fire, destruction, death, I saw the stars wheeling, whole galaxies, an oncoming storm. In the middle of it all, a man, or not a man, tall, slim, grey haired, an enigma, I see him now. A force of nature. As hot as lava, as cold as ice. I see you beside him."  
Clara wrenched her hand away, breathing fast, sweat beading her brow, her mind spinning.   
She was frightened, her eyes wide, stomach churning.   
"Don't be afraid Clara. All my life I've endured it. The other children shunned me, I was different. As I grew I was called eccentric. Now I'm just a batty old fool. A nutter, odd, but harmless. That's how they see me, I'm a joke."   
He took a slurp of tea, and took off his cap, placing it beside him on an old Fyffes banana box.   
"Tell me about him." He said gently.   
"I......I don't know where to begin......." Suddenly Clara felt a great sense of deep loss, sorrow, fear, all rolled into one. Emotion welled inside her, and she wanted to cry.   
"Begin at the beginning. That's always best." The old man sat back with a sigh, his hands clasped behind his head.   
"I met him because a woman in a shop gave me a number, a helpline, and I rung it. Simple as that."   
"And he came to you?"   
"Yes. And it was as if it was meant to be, somehow." Her gaze fixed on a piece of driftwood, in the shape of a horse, in the corner of the room.   
"It probably was then." His eyes danced, reflecting the glow of the fire light.   
"I travelled with him, I fell in love with him a little I guess, or at least the idea of him, although he wasn't my boyfriend, he was young, and excitable, like a puppy.....a bit like Danny really I suppose."  
"And you travelled the stars?" Ben steepled his fingers, placing the tips against his mouth, tapping them, rhythmically.   
"Yes. All through time and space. He has a time machine. The Tardis. He is a Timelord. A lord of Time. From the planet Gallifrey. He's an alien."   
She turned to look at Knox, to see how her revelations were affecting him, his countenance remained impassive however.  
"That makes sense." He mused.  
"It does?" Clara raised her eyebrows, in surprise.   
"Perfectly. In fact it's the only possible explanation of what I saw, when I consider it." He drained his mug, and rose. Moving to fetch two glasses and a bottle of Scotch.  
"I think we both need something stronger than tea......pray continue." He added, seating himself again.   
"Well, we travelled for a while, but there was always a hidden menace, something following us, a place he must never go, but he was being lured towards. There was an enemy......it's a long story, and maybe I'll tell you that another time, but the upshot is, that I threw myself into his timeline. Scattered myself throughout history. To save him, I was born to save him. The Doctor."   
"The Doctor. Yes. That's the name, except it's not his name." He sipped the whiskey, sucking it through his teeth, rolling it around his tongue before swallowing.   
"The man I see in my head, he's not young, like a puppy, he's grey, older, tall and thin."   
Clara swigged the amber liquid, and pulled a face.   
"This is strong!" She shuddered.   
"You need it!" He smiled, "it'll warm your cockles!"   
Clara laughed.  
"I can feel it going down! It's doing just that!"   
"He changed!" She added, matter of factly. "He does that."   
"Changes his face?" Ben seemed shocked.   
"It's called regeneration. A Timelord regenerates......new body, new persona, but retains the memories. His number was up. They are only allowed 12 regenerations, but the Timelords stepped in, through the Rift, and granted him more. I begged them to help him. And they did. He was alone, for hundreds of years, in a town called Christmas. He grew old. Protecting the town, trying to keep them safe."  
Tears coursed down Clara's face, but she hardly seemed aware of them, she was weeping, silently, as she spoke, her hand strayed to Ben's again, seeking it out, grasping it. She glugged the malt again and swallowed it down.   
"He changed. Into the man you can see. And he was different. Spiky, rude even, older looking, he carried such pain, I didn't know him anymore. Couldn't see him. And he begged me to."   
"But you stayed with him, despite everything."   
"Yes. But then so much happened, I lost someone very dear to me. It all went wrong. He lied to me, I lied to him. We left each other. I was bereft. But I wanted him to be happy."   
She sobbed openly then, her nose ran, she broke down completely.   
Ben hushed her gently, refilled her glass, and took her other hand in his.   
"But he found you again?" His head bent and craned forwards, looking into her face, as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand.   
"Yes, we found each other. I realised how much I'd missed him. That I loved him, oh so much. We travelled again. I was so glad, and he was different, softer. Then the Tardis went wrong, something happened, and we ended up in Ferness, I don't know how.........I was outside, the Tardis didn't want to be here, he went to back to fetch something......and disappeared. That was the last I saw of him."   
"Clara, dry your tears, he'll find a way to come back. I'm sure of it, you won't be abandoned here. I'm sure things will be fine." He handed her a tissue.   
"Are you?" She said, sharply. "Can you see that? Can you see him coming back?"   
"I see problems. I see difficulties, and danger. That's what I see. You must be careful, Clara. No waves.....only ripples. You don't belong here, remember. There must be no consequences to your being here."   
His face was earnest, serious, almost stern.   
"That's the other thing. It's so confusing. It's Danny........he looks like the Doctor, only young. His movements are the same, he smells the same. It's like he's the Doctor, only he isn't, he can't be!"   
"Well, I don't know about that. I can only caution you to take care. And be patient. He won't abandon you. You'll not be forgotten. He'll be working on a way to get back to you. You may be sure."   
Ben drained his glass with finality, and glanced outside.  
"It's getting late." He remarked.   
"Gosh! What time is it? I promised to meet Danny for dinner at seven. I must get back!" Clara rose hurriedly and knocked back the remainder of the whiskey.   
"That stuff grows on you!" She breathed, smacking her lips.   
"You take care now. Little lady. And don't forget where old Ben is, if you need a chat."   
Clara threw her arms around the old man and hugged him tight. He smelled of salty sea air, and grease and fishing nets, a heady aroma all mixed with highland malt whiskey.   
"Thank you Ben!" She whispered.   
It was dusk by the time she emerged from the little cabin, chilly and blustery.  
Pulling her jacket close around her, she set off down the beach at a run. Turning a couple of times, to wave to Knox as he stood by his door.   
His hand raised in farewell.   
She felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her.


	6. Ceilidh.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a ceilidh in the village, Clara and Danny are invited.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are references here to the ceilidh in the Local Hero film.....
> 
> The village tearaway is Ricky......played in the film by John Gordon Sinclair.

Chapter Six.  
Ceilidh.

It was over breakfast a couple of days later that Gordon mentioned the Ceilidh that was taking place that coming weekend.  
Truth be known there had been posters around the village, and on the wall in the Post Office.  
It was just that Clara had been too distracted to notice.  
"You've not said you're coming." He said, "nor you Danny."  
The routine was established that Danny and Clara took their meals together when they were both at the Hotel. Which they always seemed to be.  
They were spending an awful lot of time together.  
Since his announcement that he was staying on for a week or two, by way of a much needed holiday, after the Knox people left, he hung around, seeming to pop up at Clara's side, at any given moment.  
Always eager, always ridiculously pleased to see her.  
"I'm not sure I'm going." Danny frowned. " Not after last time!"  
Clara was intrigued.  
"What happened last time?" She queried.  
"I was attacked by a punk with coloured hair." He grimaced, curling his lip at the memory.  
Gordon rolled his eyes and Clara giggled.  
"She didnae attack you, she wanted to dance, but you were being a wazzock!" He rejoined.  
"Can't you dance Danny?" Clara inquired with a smile.  
"A bit! With the right music." He shot back, clearly annoyed.  
"Well!" Said Clara, "I shall go to the ceilidh and you can dance with me!"  
Urquhart chuckled as he walked away.  
"You'll regret that decision." He said. 

It was a fine day.  
Clara and Danny wandered down through the village. Their arms linked companionably.  
The roar of an engine made them both jump, as a souped up car, shot passed them, the noise of the horn and the screech of brakes, almost forcing them into the fence at the side of the road.  
"Bloody mad buggers!" Danny yelled, shaking his fist at the departing back of the old Capri.  
"Who was that?" Cried Clara, breathlessly.  
"Village idiots! They'll kill someone one day, stupid sods!" 

They spent the rest of the day together, as they seemed to most days, since Clara arrived.  
She couldn't shake him, and she found increasingly that she didn't want to.  
When they were together she felt less lost, she could forget for a few hours, that she really belonged in another time, another place.  
That she had another life.  
His very shyness, his gaucheness, was endearing. He reminded her of the Doctor in so many ways.  
Being with him was comforting. She found it impossible to send him away, there was just something about him that she found irresistible.  
An element of safety. 

She was thinking again, or rather, over thinking.  
Clara wasn't sure exactly what or how, he was. She knew he wasn't the Doctor, that was impossible, he was entirely human, of that she was certain.  
But The Doctor had once mentioned that in the past, a human echo of himself had given him his face. He remembered it when they were in the Viking village. It had come back to him, in a flash, as a reflection in the water. A face from a man who lived in Ancient Rome, that he'd rescued in one of his previous incarnations, saved from the destruction Pompeii. A message to himself,  
"To remind myself .........To hold me to the mark....." That's what he'd told her.  
Perhaps Danny was another of these.......except that Danny was young, 28 or so, a similar age to herself. Could he be another reminder for the Doctor to himself? But if so, why?  
The Doctor hadn't saved Danny, there was no connection that she knew of. Unless it was still to come, in the future?  
Yet it couldn't be a coincidence, the build, the walk, the eyes......the eyebrows for goodness sake!  
Not to mention the attachment she felt towards him.  
Clara was lost in these thoughts, silent and detached, and only dimly aware of Danny speaking.  
"It's getting overcast Clara, I think rain is on the way."  
"Hmmm?" she turned to look at him. He had seated himself next to her on the stone wall, his legs swinging, chewing at a finger nail absentmindedly. His features, alert and keen, boyishly engaged, scanning the clouds on the horizon with interest.  
"It's going to piss down in the next ten minutes." He said, with a matter of fact air. We should get back to the car, before we're caught again, like last time.  
Taking her hand in his, they ran, and made it just in time.  
Settling into the drivers seat, he blew a puff of air out through his mouth.  
"That was close! Shall we eat now? I'm starving."  
"You're always starving!" Clara laughed. "Those thighs of yours are hollow!" 

 

The day of the ceilidh arrived.  
Clara entered the hall at about eight. It was heaving.  
All the village seemed to be there.  
The music was traditional, drums and guitar, fiddle and penny whistle. Everyone was either jigging about or standing chatting, the atmosphere one of celebration, although there was no actual event. Just an excuse for a damn good piss up.  
Danny was dressed in the brown suit again, with the waistcoat that was ill fitting. Clara hated it, but decided not to say anything.  
Even bearing in mind that she came from the future, she seriously wondered if brown suits had EVER really been fashionable.  
Much frivolity, much alcohol, and yes, Danny could dance, a bit, but he was awkward, shy and uncomfortable, and Clara didn't have the heart to inflict that pain on him too many times.  
Up and down, the lines they went, a sort of hop, skip and a jump.  
Clara got the hang of it pretty quickly, it wasn't long before she was being passed down the row, hand over hand, like an expert.  
It was fun. Whoops and yelps rent the air as the dancers whirled and reeled, meeting in the middle, then back towards the walls, a blur of tartan and sporrans, velvet and tweed, all awash with copious amounts of whiskey.  
Ben Knox was there, and Gordon's Russian friend Victor. Even the vicar, who was African, joined in with the merry throng, as unguarded as the rest of them.  
Towards the end of the evening, the band slowed things down.  
Clara was, by now, decidedly squiffy, rosy red cheeked, and warm from her exertions. Danny was drunk, not violently so, but extra clingy!  
They danced a slow dance, she pressed very close to him, he holding her very tight.  
Moving around the floor together, shuffling their feet.  
When he looked down at her it was difficult to focus. He placed little kisses against her hair.  
The scent of flowers, or fruit.......or something!  
She leaned into him, unsteady on her feet, her fuddled brain only registering that he was near, and he smelled good, and it was nice.  
Teetering, barrelling together, they emerged from the smoky fug into the night air.  
The hall was hot and stuffy, outside there was a distinct chill.  
It was one in the morning. They tottered down the Main Street.  
By the sea wall, they stopped, propping each other up.  
Giggling a little, before turning to stand side by side, looking at the dark misty shapes of the boats in the harbour, as they bobbed in the moonlight. Lanyards slapping against the masts.  
Danny gazed up blearily at the night sky. The heavens wheeled above them, millions of pinpoints of light. The Milky Way dazzlingly beautiful, a frosted trail over their heads.  
Clara sighed deeply at his elbow.  
"S'wonderful, the nights here! No artificial light to mar the starlight." She breathed, and leaned her head against Danny's arm.  
"I'm not one for words, but you're more beautiful than all the stars put together." He murmured.  
Before she could register what was happening, he was kissing her, and she was kissing back, with interest.  
Their mouths locked, each working against the other, tender, deep and passionate.  
Arms entwined, wrapped around each other, his around her waist, hers over his shoulders and behind his neck.  
It was a long time before they separated, almost loosing their balance, lightheaded as they both were.  
"Clara......I......." His voice was slurred, but soft.  
"No! Don't say anything. Don't spoil the moment. Just hold me." She whispered.  
He obeyed, pulling her into his warmth, surrounding her, shutting out the cold night air.  
"You really are lovely Clara, and I think I'm falling in............"  
"Danny, please don't! Don't say anything you might regret, you're drunk, it's not the time for deep words, we've had a lovely evening hmm? Take me back now.......please, I'm tired, I need to sleep, and I need to think."  
She shivered involuntarily, and Danny removed his jacket, wrapped it around her, pulling it together at the front, then with one arm guiding her, they stumbled back towards the hotel.


	7. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara and Danny both have a stinking hangover........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's Dance was one of the biggest selling singles of 1983.
> 
> And it's a favourite of mine.......

Chapter Seven  
Aftermath. 

He kissed her again as they parted. Before they headed off to their respective rooms.  
Clara felt dizzy and sick, and desperately tired.  
"Night Clara. I had such a great time." His hand lingered over her own.  
"Me too. It was really nice. But I need to lie down before I fall down. You too! Sleep well."   
"I'll try!" He replied, but his tone remained unconvinced.   
"I have to go Danny, my head is spinning!"   
She left him then and stumbled off to her bed, without another word. 

Everything was too loud.  
And too bright.   
Clara could face nothing more than dry toast and coffee, and she wasn't even sure that those two things wouldn't make another appearance.   
Danny sat opposite her, equally green around the gills.   
When Gordon Urquhart dropped a metal ice bucket behind the bar counter, he winced in pain and bowed his head, resting it flush on the table top.   
"Aghhh! God! My head! How much did I drink?"   
Clara stood up gingerly, swaying slightly.   
"I need some fresh air......the breeze will blow the cobwebs away."   
Stella laughed at them.  
"Get you two! A right pair of lightweights!"   
"Oh, shut up Stella......I heard you being sick at the back of the hall at half past ten last night!!" Danny retorted, as he took Clara's arm to help her out into the street. 

It was cool and blustery, and the wind against her forehead was balm to the afflicted.   
She leaned against the wall to catch her breath for a moment. 

A sequence of events, measured one by one, a series of seconds ticking off, as had sometimes happened when she was aboard the Tardis. 

Ben Knox was walking towards her, he even waved his hand as he spotted her there. 

Everything happened so quickly.   
Almost as if it were predestined. Except that Clara was never meant to be there, at that moment.  
Out of her time. Where she should never be.   
Ripples, not tidal waves. 

Looking back Clara saw the whole thing replayed in slow motion. Second by second she relived those moments over and over again in her mind. On a continuous loop. 

Danny left her propped there, smiling wanly as he made to cross the road towards the harbour wall. His hand mussing through his mop of hair, as he walked away, glancing back at her momentarily.   
A little foggy of brain, reactions slightly slower, balance just a little off kilter.   
She heard the car engine before she ever saw the vehicle it belonged to.   
A deafening roar, a flurry of gravel, the smell of rubber, as it rounded the blind bend by the Hotel car park. Cassette player blaring forth.......Let's Dance......Bowie.  
"Let's dance......put on your red shoes and dance the blues........"  
That song would now forever be etched on her brain, a cerebral tattoo.   
"If you say run.......I'll run with you.........."

 

It was as if Danny froze. 

 

"Because my love for you.........would break my heart in two.......if you should fall, into my arms......and tremble like a flower........"

Just standing there, mesmerised, waiting for it to happen. Nothing on earth he could do.   
His eyes grew wide as the Capri bore down on him, much too fast to stop or to even swerve.   
"Under the moonlight........the serious moonlight........."

In her minds eye Clara saw it all........the motor would certainly plough into him........throwing him up, over the windscreen, shattering it, across the roof and down onto the road surface, like a crash test dummy. Limp and elastic. Landing bent and broken.

Only vaguely aware of what she was doing, knowing that it had to be done, processing the information as if she had all the time in the world, her hands pushing off from the wall, propelling herself forwards.

A cry of warning from Ben.......his voice shrill and piercing like the shriek of a monkey. 

At the last second she launched herself. Her momentum carried her into him, a rugby tackle, knocking him full force.   
He was catapulted over to the other side of the road, rolling once, twice, three times, with Clara wrapped around him.  
She was underneath him, then on top, then under him again, the air pressed out of her lungs, her ribs crushed under his weight. Smacking her head hard each time they barrelled.   
A stone in the tarmac hit his temple, carving itself into the flesh, tearing it.   
Where her arms and hands twisted around him, the elbows and knuckles were skinned, as were his. His knees were protected by the fabric of his trousers, hers were not, and were grazed and cut to ribbons.   
The car sped onwards, with a squeal of brakes, coming to rest some hundred yards further down the street. Steam spiralling from the burst radiator, as it hit a lamppost. Bowie still bellowing forth. 

Danny lost consciousness for a few seconds, as they both hit the harbour wall. Flung against it with such force, his head being the first thing to come into contact with the brickwork. 

The patrons from the Hotel rushed out, at the sound, gathering around. Some heading towards the car, some towards the two of them as they lay there, insensible but very much alive. 

"Danny! DANNY!" Clara screamed, her throat hoarse and dry as sawdust.  
His eyes opened slowly, as if waking from a long sleep.   
"Clara!" He whispered, choking and coughing, blood coming from the side of his head and his nose. 

Her head swam, eyes unfocused.  
She felt herself lifted, carried away. But her eyes never left Danny's.   
Dimly aware of Ben, beside her, as she was placed on a bench seat in the saloon bar, his hand holding hers.  
"Alright little lady?" His tone soothing, comforting. "That was a very brave and very foolish thing you did."   
"Is he......is he....?" She murmured, not capable of coherent thought.   
"Don't fret.....he'll be fine. Although by rights he shouldn't be here. Someone's gone to fetch the Doctor." He took her hand in his.   
"Doctor? Doctor! Oh god! Doctor! Please come! I need you!" She cried, rambling now, almost delirious.   
"Hush now. Hush. Our doctor will see to him, and you. Your own Doctor will come, never fear. Hold on to that thought, little Clara. He will come, I've seen it."   
With that Knox was muscled out of the way, as the village GP was shown to her side. He melted away into the throng, and Clara closed her eyes, lost in a haze of hateful dreams.  
Dreams in which she saw Danny mown down over and over again, she unable to reach him in time, in which The Doctor came, angry, livid, admonishing her for interfering, dragging her away, towards the Tardis, as she cried and begged him to be allowed to stay, until she was sure Danny was okay. Blackness filling the sky over her head, blotting out the light, a clap of thunder. Lightening splitting the clouds asunder, rain pummelling down mercilessly.  
She woke with a gasp.   
"DANNY!"  
Sitting bolt upright, her chest sore and bruised. Head aching.  
It was almost dark, a strange half light.   
She was in bed.   
Stella on a chair next to her, nodding drowsily.   
Outside a colossal storm raged.


	8. Together.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara wakes, confused and in darkness, the storm still raging......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little post trauma togetherness.....

Chapter Eight  
Together.

For a few moments Clara was confused. It had been early morning when the accident happened, of that she was sure.   
She remembered distinctly.  
Surely she hadn't slept the whole day away, and now it was almost night?  
Reaching over to the bedside cabinet she noticed that her clock had stopped. 8.45.   
Switching on the light, she could see the dial on her wrist watch was smashed.   
Why was it dusk?   
Was it just the storm? Outside the rain and thunder continued unabated, as loud and insistent as the banging inside her skull.   
Thinking the lamp might disturb the dozing Stella, she clicked it off again.   
Swinging her legs out of bed, she rose carefully. Everything hurt.   
Knees, backside, hips. Her elbows and hands. Shoulders and ribs, and, most of all, her head.   
Which felt fuzzy, and a thumping headache.   
What she needed was a glass of water, and a couple of paracetamol.   
The little sink in her bathroom provided the one, her handbag, the other. 

Idly she wondered how Danny was. Where he was.   
She wanted to see him.   
Suddenly it was a priority. She must see him.   
Silently she padded across the room, out through the door and down the passageway. 

Danny's room was at the back of the building, looking out over the hills. The darkness seemed a little less as she peered out, almost like twilight, if only she could see what time it was.   
The door to his room was ajar, and pushing it open carefully, she found Gordon sitting up, beside his bed, as Stella had been by hers.   
A silent vigil.   
He turned as she entered, placing a finger to his lips.   
"How is he?" She whispered.   
"Fine! Just sleeping." The landlord replied, "Doc said to sit with him, just in case."   
"Why is it so dark? What time is it?" Clara asked quietly, looking around the room for a clock.  
"My watch has stopped, but it must be about 2ish." He muttered, "the storm came on just after the accident, it's been raging ever since. It's become darker and darker over the last hour or so.   
How do you feel?"  
Clara considered for a moment......  
"Bit headachy, bit sore, but otherwise, fine. Stella dozed off watching over me.....why don't you go have a kip or something? I'll stay here with Danny. I'll call you if I need anything."  
"You sure?" He began, "No time for napping, I've got some stuff to do, not going far in this weather, but I've things to see to and people seem to be gathering here....for some reason. Ben's idea, daft old bugger, said we should all stay indoors and stay here.....so several people have turned up."  
"Quite sure. I'll take care of him. We'll be okay. He needs to sleep and I'll just sit here with him. You go see to your guests."

Gordon nodded his assent and slipped quietly away.  
Clara closed the door behind him firmly.   
In the lamplight she could see a gauze dressing on the side of Danny's head. A livid bruise peeked out from underneath it.   
Sitting herself on the edge of the bed, she peered more closely at him.   
His thick hair was matted with dried blood above the temple, she reached out and touched it gently.   
As if he became suddenly aware of her presence, his eyelids fluttered and he roused, turning towards her, and smiling.   
"Clara!" My god!" He said softly, " I dreamed you were dead!"   
"You damn well ought to be!" She smiled back.  
Slowly he sat up, wincing as he did so.   
"I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of elephants!" He hissed, through clenched teeth.   
"My head is killing me. But you.....you are a sight for sore eyes! What you did Clara! It's hazy, but I can remember.....that car would have killed me! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't......"  
His words caught suddenly and he stopped, his eyes glistened, tears spilling over, and rolling unchecked down his face.   
"Clara!" He murmured, his expression pleading, "Clara!"   
"Shove over." She nudged him slightly, and he moved to one side. Lifting the edge of the duvet she slid underneath beside him.   
They curled up together, warm and snug. Her head against his chest, his arms encircling her.   
It was several minutes before either spoke.   
"Thank you." The words were addressed towards the ceiling. Danny still sniffing occasionally.   
Clara raised her head to look at him.   
"You're welcome." She replied, her head came down and nuzzled his beaky nose.   
"My nose hurts!" He moaned.   
She kissed it.   
"And my chin!" She touched her lips against him there.   
"Anywhere else?" She whispered.   
"Here!" He said, pathetically, holding an arm aloft and indicating a spot on his chest.   
She kissed it tenderly.   
"And here!" Her mouth ghosted against the skin just above his naval.   
His voice faltered as he touched his index finger to his own mouth,   
"I think it hurts here too."   
Clara shifted herself along the length of his body, and placed her lips onto his, kissing him gently, little short staccato pecks.  
He whimpered as their joined embrace deepened, each touch, each caress, a bruise or a cut, that made either one or the other grimace with pain or hiss as a new tender spot was discovered.   
Hands wandering under their clothes, seeking out, searching for a sensation that was not one of suffering, but one of desire. Fumbling to undo buttons, zips, fastenings, pushing fabric aside, to allow them better access.   
A warmth between them, a sheer unadulterated celebration of being glad to be alive, and all that that could bring.   
The softness and heat of each other, a life force, an affirmation of their combined sentient pulses.   
Beating in time, the one in tune with the other.   
"Danny?" Clara gasped, turning over onto her back, pulling him with her, "Love me. Please! I need you."   
His body now covered hers, chest on chest, his lower half between her thighs. Kisses more urgent now, pressing deeper, more insistent.   
When he entered her she cried out, not because he hurt her, but because it felt like a huge release, both of emotion and of need.  
He was not a particularly accomplished lover, a little hesitant, inexperienced, but gentle in the extreme, sweet, tender and thoughtful. Mindful of her soreness and contusions, eager to please her.   
Desperate to know that this was what she really wanted, to show her how much he wanted her, and what it meant to him.   
When he came he was silent.   
No cries, no groans, not a sound. Just a sharp intake of breath as his body pulsed inside her, and she reached her own completion with him, moaning softly, holding him as close as she could without causing either herself or him, more discomfort than was necessary.   
His head against her shoulder, panting, blood pounding in his ears, the stitches in his temple throbbing from the effort.   
Neither relinquished their hold on the other. Clinging on with a desperation, a relief, the tangible reality of their togetherness.   
Danny eventually rolled away, and she immediately missed the sense of him filling her.   
They lay together. Still partially clothed, dishevelled, wrapped in each other.   
Sleeping, as the storm outside continued to rage. 

They woke, still entwined, some hours later.   
Time had ceased to have any meaning.   
Rain still hammered against the window, thunder rending the air, lightening ripping through the heavy pall of dark cloud.  
Clara snuggled into him, a little moan of pleasure, as his embrace tightened. Keeping her in place. 

Danny was hungry.  
A good sign.   
He rose, leaving the warmth of the bed with some reluctance.   
Shaved as best he could, washed and dressed.   
Clara joined him, as he grappled with his shirt buttons, with his sore hands.   
"Here, let me!" She took over from him, fastening each one, then smoothing his shirt front.  
"There! You're done!" She smiled, and he pecked her cheek. 

Together they made their way downstairs, still no idea of the time.   
Both ravenous.


	9. Into the Eye of the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange things have been taking place while Danny and Clara were sleeping.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Dr Who episode Father's Day was the inspiration for this chapter. In that episode the creatures are never named. ( they did, however have the working title of The Reapers).

Chapter Nine  
Into the Eye of the Storm. 

The sight that met the eyes of Danny and Clara when they eventually found their way downstairs, was not what they'd expected.  
A gathering of the villagers, more than a dozen people, huddled into the saloon bar.  
Some seated, looking concerned, some wandering about listlessly, one in tears. Gordon and Stella moving amongst them with cups of coffee and glasses of brandy.  
Listening to their murmurs of trepidation, and evident confusion.  
"What's going on?"  
Heads turned towards them as they entered, Danny reached down beside him and clasped Clara's hand.  
Blanched, frightened faces.  
"The storm is still raging, but there are creatures outside. Weird creatures, with wings. They are attacking anyone who tries to leave." Stella's eyes were filled with fear.  
Clara immediately crossed to the window, and peered out. 

What exactly was she looking at?  
Clara had seen enough alien life not to allow herself to be fazed, but even she had to admit, these things were scary.  
Large and reptilian. Red eyes that blazed. Leathery wings outstretched.  
There were several that she could see, and one was most certainly on the roof of the building, she could hear the slate tiles clattering to the ground.  
It was as if they were trying to force their way in.  
Ben came and stood at her elbow.  
"Seen them before?" He whispered.  
"No, never. But they are not of this world, that's for sure. God! I need The Doctor!"  
She turned back to address Gordon.  
"Can we use the phone? For the Police or the Military?"  
Gordon scowled.  
"I tried. There's something wrong with it."  
"Are the lines down?" She asked, sharply.  
"Not sure......you listen!"  
Clara picked up the receiver, and dialled, a voice down the wire spoke clearly,  
"Watson, come here, I need you. Watson, come here, I need you."  
"What the hell?" Clara exclaimed......"Who is that?"  
"No idea, but that's all we're getting when we try to make a call."  
Clara thought rapidly, as Danny came over and stood beside her, shuffling his feet.  
"Okay, so, what do we know?" She began to answer her own question, brow furrowed in concentration, pacing up and down.  
"The creatures appeared a few hours ago, there is a storm, the phones aren't down, but are replaying a message, we are being kept here. Why? Somethings happened, something has gone wrong......"  
"All the clocks have stopped.......!"  
Danny made the statement almost as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  
"8.45.......they all say the same."  
Clara stared at him, wide eyed.  
"Clever you! Just after the accident. But if the clocks have stopped, that means something is wrong with Time. And if something is wrong with Time...." Her face became animated, hope springing up upon it, "maybe.....just maybe.......wait here a sec!"  
She dashed off in the direction of her room. 

While she was gone she was unaware of the latest events happening downstairs.  
A car screeched up outside the hotel, swinging into the car park.  
The creatures immediately homed in upon it.  
The door opened and the single occupant leaped out, sprinting for the door.  
Gordon rushed to open it......to admit a soaked and trembling.......Marina! 

Danny's jaw hit the floor.  
"Marina! I thought you were in Australia! What are you doing back here?"  
On seeing him, she rushed into his arms, flinging herself upon him with a sob.  
"Danny! Thank god! I couldn't go! I changed my mind. I came back. But what is happening here? Everything is crazy!" 

Clara ran to her bedroom and grabbed her mobile.  
With a shaking hand she switched it on, her wallpaper of a grey haired stick insect, lit up her screen. She dialled, hesitantly.  
It rang.  
"Hello?"  
The sound of his voice almost made Clara yelp. A sob that she didn't know she was holding in, left her.  
"Doctor! Oh Doctor! Thank God!"  
There were sounds of banging and clanking in the background. The Timelord sounded as though he'd been running, or was flinging himself about.  
Truth was he'd been doing both.  
Since his ship dematerialised, leaving Clara behind, he'd been working tirelessly to find a way back to her. But the Tardis was having none of it.  
Now, suddenly everything had changed, the blue box was spinning across the cosmos, heading back towards Earth.  
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but the Tardis is going bonkers! I've been trying to reach you unsuccessfully, but now, all of a sudden, a pathway is opening. If I can latch onto it, I can reach you."  
"Oh, Doctor. It's SO good to hear your voice. I've missed you! Something has happened here. To Time. Time has stopped."  
"Oh Clara! What have you done?"  
"Me? I've done nothing! Oh hurry Doctor, please! We need you!"  
There was a crunch and a yell. "I'm coming Clara! Fast as I can!"  
The phone went dead.  
Pocketing it, her heart pounding, Clara dashed back downstairs. 

Seeing Danny with a damp weeping woman wrapped around him, was not quite what she'd anticipated.  
The man that she'd woken up next to only hours before, now apparently cuddling a stranger.  
She opened her mouth to tell him help was on its way, but her jaw clamped shut, registering her surprise, she opened it again, but no sound came out. So she remained silent. Regarding the clinging woman curiously.  
Danny was scarlet with embarrassment. His eyes darting to her face, with a look of desperate apology, then down at Marina, with a shrug of helplessness, then round the room.  
Taking her arms, he peeled them from him, and sat her down in a vacant chair.  
Her glance fastened on Clara, then back to Danny's face, shifting from one to the other as if trying to work out what the deal might be, and not able to reach a satisfactory conclusion. There was no time for explanations, or introductions. 

At that moment, and before anyone could say or do anything else, a wheezing mechanical sound filled the room.  
A sound that made Clara's heart leap. 

Vvvvoooorrrpppppp! vvvvvooorrrrrrrrppppppp!! 

The blue box materialised in the corner, fading in and out of view several times, before solidifying and stabilising, with an air of finality, and a knell from a distant cloister bell. 

The door opened, and the tall grey haired man, in a velvet frock coat exited with a flourish.  
Clara wanted nothing more than to fling her arms around him, but she somehow resisted the urge.  
"Well! Here we all are then!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together theatrically. His beady, alert eyes scanning the room, fastening finally on the bottle of Hennessy.  
"Ooo, is that brandy? Don't mind if I do!"


	10. The Man Who Lived.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor has arrived.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used the notecards again, from Under the Lake. One of my favourite little scenes from season nine, I'm sure those notecards made several appearances that we didn't get to see!!!

Chapter Ten.  
The Man Who Lived. 

The Doctor seemed not to notice the stunned silence with which everyone except Ben and Clara, regarded him.   
He sipped the brandy, rolling it around on his tongue, before swallowing, and smacking his lips in satisfaction.   
"So! What do we have then my Clara?" He cried, clapping his hands together a second time. "Time stopped, raging storms. Murder and mayhem?"   
He moved around the room as he spoke, peering outside into the gloom, tutting pointedly, then turning at last, to take in the assembled company.   
His eyes flitted over each one, until they came to rest on Danny. Who was staring, his mouth open like a dazed haddock.   
The gaze travelled on passed, and then stopped, reversed, a double take, his expressive face showing a range of emotions, and evident confusion.   
"Well......what have we here Clara?" Bending slightly at the knees, he moved across, peering at Danny closely, taking him in. Processing the look, the eyes, the stance, the hair.   
Slowly breaking into a smile.   
"This is very interesting!" He remarked. Taking a pair of raybans from his inside pocket, holding them delicately between his thumb and forefinger, his other fingers splayed in the air, he placed them on his nose. They made a curious whirring noise.   
Turning to Clara, he motioned with his head, towards Danny, and mouthed comically, "It's me!"   
Clara nodded, moved close to his side and whispered, "It hadn't escaped my notice!"  
"What happened to his head? Trauma to temple, seven stitches, bruising and slight contusion. Cause?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.   
"An accident, this morning. I saved him from being knocked down by a car." Clara confided.  
The Doctor nodded sagely.  
"Hence your own grazes and scuffs!" He deduced, spinning on his heel with a swish of his coat, as he was addressed from behind. 

"Excuse me! But who are you?" Gordon came over and challenged him sternly.   
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. I'm your rescue party."  
Clara ignored Urquhart.   
"Doctor, all the clocks have stopped, and what are those creatures?"   
Snapping his head back to look at her, he pulled a face.   
"I've encountered them before. As a previous me. They are like bacteria. When Time is injured, they come to sterilise the wound. Mop up. Tidy. Cauterise. And oh, this must be one doozy of an incision, because, the accompanying storm is very strong indeed. Last time there was no more than a few black clouds!"  
Danny's eyes grew wide at the Doctor's words, as he processed the information, but he made no comment.   
For a moment the Timelord seemed lost in thought, as if remembering a day long ago, with Rose at his side, a faint smile played on his lips, he temporarily switched off from the now.   
The voice of a young girl bought him back to reality.   
"Have you come here to save us?"   
Staring down at her from his lofty height, he gave the slightest flicker of a grin, then looked to Clara, as if craving assistance.   
She stared at him, uncomprehending, then, as if a penny dropped, she suddenly dived inside his inner jacket pocket, bringing out a set of cards.   
The two conferred conspiratorially for a few seconds, before seeming to agree, nod to each other, and the Timelord turned to address the room, reading from the topmost note.  
Clearing his throat first.  
"Hmm hmm! Don't be afraid. Everything will be fine. I will do my best to put things right and save your parents slash children slash pets." He looked up, to see the effect of his words, before replacing the cards and glancing at Clara for affirmation.   
She frowned slightly, and added.   
"The Doctor can help us. Don't worry." 

"So let me guess." His long elegant fingers steepled in front of his mouth, the Doctor began to pace, much as Clara had done earlier. "The storm began after the accident, correct?"   
"Yes. It grew dark, then later these creatures appeared. But, Doctor.....why haven't they come in?"   
"Because, I'm guessing this building is very old, am I right?" He turned to Gordon, and pointed his two index fingers towards him.   
"Aye. It's at least 16th century, possibly older." He replied.  
"Then that's why. They can't break through. Yet. I seem to remember last time, we were holed up inside a church." 

Since the moment of the Doctor's appearance Danny had remained completely silent.   
His glance shifting constantly between Clara and the strange newcomer.   
He ignored Marina and her attempts to engage him, he barely noticed anyone else in the room.   
It was not so much fear, or apprehension, or even confusion.   
More it was realisation, that this is who Clara was. The tough and resourceful woman who travelled with The Doctor.   
The woman that, a few hours ago he'd slept with, made love to. Now, so far removed from him it was as if he didn't know her at all.   
He could clearly see the interaction between her and her Timelord, and, make no mistake, he was her Timelord.   
They were in love. Danny could see it. Even if neither of them could.   
It was taking his brain a little time to process the information. Any self confidence, any ego, was taking quite a battering, and he knew, that in a battle of choices, he would lose with Clara every time.   
They were a team. As thick as thieves. They worked together like a well oiled machine, and their evident regard for each other was perfectly obvious. 

"Doctor, we tried the phone, but there is a strange message on it, listen!" Clara held the receiver to his ear, her other hand resting on his arm gently.   
"Watson, come here, I need you."  
He hummed knowledgeably.  
"What you are listening to is the first ever phone call. Alexander Graham Bell!"   
"Ah! That makes sense, the telephone has reverted to its earliest setting, so to speak."   
"My clever Clara!" The Doctor beamed. 

"Doctor, what has caused this break in Time? What has made this rift?" The voice, unexpectedly, was Ben's.   
The Timelord turned, regarding the old man with an air of deep respect.   
"And you are?" He inquired.  
"Ben......Knox. I live down on the beach." To Clara's surprise they shook hands.  
"I'm honoured to meet you Mr Knox. So lovely to come across one such as you amongst all the pudding brains."   
"Doctor!" Clara warned.   
"Sorry!" His tone was apologetic, if not entirely sincere. "So, Clara. Tell me all about the events of this morning. What happened prior to 8.45?"   
While waiting for her to begin he continued to move around the room, with his curious gait, swaying from side to side slightly, opening doors and peering into cupboards, crossing to the window, pressing his face against the glass, then drawing back. His expression growing concerned and thoughtful.   
Ben piped up, before Clara could speak.  
"The car would have killed him Doctor, Clara was incredibly brave, she threw herself onto him, pulled him out if it's path. I saw the whole thing." He proceeded to give a blow by blow account of the scene, from his own viewpoint.   
The Timelord listened carefully, his head tilted to one side. His glance strayed frequently to Clara, a look of fondness there, and to Danny, also listening intently, standing directly in his eye line, his head tilted in a very similar way.   
"This is not good." He groaned, when the story concluded. "Not good at all."  
"Doctor, why? What has caused this? Tell me. Is it something I've done?" Clara touched his sleeve, imploringly.   
At first he did not reply, refusing to meet her gaze. Looking back at Danny again, frowning, before finally painting on a fixed smile.  
"It'll be fine! I'll think of something."  
"But these creatures....." Clara persisted, "what can be done? How can it be put right?" 

"I have to die that's how!" Danny's voice came as if from far away.   
"Isn't that right....Doctor? I should have died. But I didn't. And that's why they're here.....I'm right aren't I ?"  
The Timelord did not reply.   
"I'm not stupid. Far from it. I heard what you said earlier, about these, these, things......mopping up, cauterising a wound, and it's me isn't it? That's why it all began after the accident. Clara saved me, but I should have been killed. Everything is wrong now because of it."  
Marina came to his side, sliding her hand into his. Clara noticed their fingers interlace, she looked at Danny and gave him a little sad smile, which he returned, then glanced down bashfully at his own feet.   
"I should be dead." He finished lamely.


	11. The Man Who Died.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor comes up with a solution.......it doesn't sound good.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Blinovitch Limitation Effect is a thing.....you can google it! It's a bit Timey Wimey, like the bootstrap paradox!! 
> 
> Much Ado About Nothing is one of my all time favourite Shakespeare plays!

Chapter Eleven.  
The Man Who Died. 

"That's nonsense!" Clara snapped. "Isn't it Doctor? Tell him!"  
Her brows were furrowed, her face anguished, she was angry.  
Angry with herself, with Danny, with the world in general.  
The Doctor did not reply. Nor would he look at either of them.  
Instead he turned away, poured himself another slug of brandy and knocked it back in one swallow.  
"The car should have killed me. My life was meant to end today. But because Clara was here, where she should never have been, I've been saved. That's the reality, isn't it Doctor?"  
Danny walked in front of the Timelord, their identically coloured eyes boring into each other.  
"Sometimes it's not as simple as that!" He replied thoughtfully, backing away.  
Outside there was a scream from the creatures.  
The thunder and lightning, the torrential rain, the whistle of the wind, continued to roar and buffet the little hotel, without ceasing. A merciless and ever powerful onslaught. 

It was some seconds before The Doctor spoke.  
"I'm certain now why the Tardis didn't want me to be here. She was trying to protect me. What I'm less certain of is why she left Clara behind. I think it was deliberate. Clara was meant to be here on this day, instead of me, because the Tardis thought it was too dangerous, so she abandoned Clara here instead, so that you, Mr Oldsen, were not mown down in the street by a car. It's important.....you are important. But the creatures don't know that. They're just doing what they were created to do. Trying to heal the wound."  
"Every person is important!" A different voice spoke. "Can't you get the creatures to leave? Please tell me Danny doesn't have to die for it to be fixed." Marina suddenly cried, clutching Danny by the arm, and looking imploringly from the Doctor to Clara and back.  
Running his hand through his grey curls, the Timelord smiled back at her, as if her words struck a chord, an idea forming in his head.  
He laughed then, throwing up his hands into the air, evidently very pleased with himself.  
"Many many years ago, there was another man, equally important, I saved him from the fires of Pompeii! " He paused for dramatic effect. "Yes, I know it sounds incredible, but it's true. I wear his face. I wear it to remind me how precious each individual life is. There is a reason you are here, Danny, with my face again, albeit a younger version.....and a very handsome one, may I say!" He glanced pointedly at Clara, who blushed furiously. "But it is dangerous for us to both be here."  
"Why is it dangerous?" Clara queried.  
"Have you ever heard the term "Blinovitch Limitation Effect"?"  
Danny's face registered nothing, nor did Clara's.  
"Blinovitch states that crossing and effecting timestreams can have unforeseen effects."  
It was Ben who spoke again.  
"I read an article about it." He added.  
The Doctor turned towards Ben with his eyebrows raised expressively.  
"I'm impressed!" He grinned. "As Ben says, firstly, a time traveller cannot 'redo' an act he has previously committed, but more to the point, is the second part of the Effect, which says that a dangerous energy discharge will result if two temporal versions of the same person come into contact."  
"So two versions of you.......this you and an echo of you.......? And if you touch.....Boom !" Clara huffed, folding her arms across her chest.  
"A human version of me, looking like me........to draw me in, to make sure I'm at the right place at the right time. So that Danny lives. That's why the Tardis was so upset. "  
"Except that you weren't here......so your machine saw to it that Clara was." Marina stated, with a look of quiet annoyance.  
"Ah! But I'm here now!" The Doctor said, "and I think I may have a solution, not sure it'll work, but I can at least try."  
"Is it dangerous?" Clara demanded.  
The Doctor made a curious whining noise in his throat.  
"Absolutely not!.........possibly........probably.......!" He responded, with a shrug.  
"So what is this brilliant solution?" Clara asked, moving in closer, and holding the Doctors gaze. 

"Danny has to die......."

 

".......die so he can live! Like Hero!" He replied, beaming, then looked from one to the other as if his words were a 'ta dah' moment. 

"WHAT! NO!" Clara exclaimed, "Wait......what do you mean.....like Hero?"  
"Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing." Ben smiled. "Clever! Very clever Doctor."  
Danny looked completely lost, as did both Clara and Marina, neither making the connection.  
"I'll leave Mr Knox to explain, I need to go into the Tardis and do a little jiggery pokery!"  
A look of barely disguised glee at his own cleverness, flickered across his face, as he rubbed his hands together, and disappeared into the Blue Box. 

"Well! Come on......spill the beans!" Clara turned to Ben. "What's this Shakespeare reference all about?"  
Ben took a seat, in an old velvet armchair, hands on his knees, eyes like little embers of coal, burning brightly.  
"Are you familiar with the story?"  
"Of course! I'm an English teacher.....but I fail to see....."  
Ben interrupted her.  
"Hero was publicly accused, on her wedding day, of sleeping with a man, it was a lie, manufactured by the vengeful Don John.....but that's not important, what is important, is that her family pretended she'd died. That the slander had killed her. Once she was 'dead' the slander was discovered to be false, Hero was then 'resurrected' and Claudio married her. She died, so she could live. So to speak. There's more to it than that, but that's the gist!"  
"So The Doctor makes the creatures believe Danny is dead.....they go away, then he's somehow resurrected? That's rubbish.....and impossible........I don't like the sound of that at all!" Marina's voice trembled.  
"That won't work! Clara scoffed, "the creatures would return as soon as Danny was revealed!" 

"That's why I'm not going to do that!" The Doctor reappeared, with a satisfied smile on his face.  
His red velvet jacket removed, shirt sleeves rolled up, waistcoat unbuttoned.  
"Clara.....I'll need your assistance........in there please!" Clara moved towards the blue wooden door obediently, and without question. 

"Danny......" He gestured towards the Tardis, with a malevolent gleam in his eye, "You have to come with me.........

.........because, I'm afraid to say, I'm going to have to kill you!"


	12. All Change.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor sets about 'killing' Danny.....there are goodbyes to be said......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day, the Slitheen, see the episode Boom Town from the first New Who series with Christopher Eccleston.

Chapter Twelve.   
All Change. 

Through the open door Danny stepped, filled with trepidation. A last look back towards Marina as he crossed the threshold.   
Quite what he was expecting he was unsure, but the sight that met his eyes, confirmed his surprise.   
"Don't be afraid." Clara whispered, touching his hand lightly.   
"I'm not afraid!" He retorted, "It's......it's.........wow!"   
Words failed him.  
"This is the Tardis. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It's basically a Time Machine. Although it's so much more than that."   
Clara spoke proudly, almost as if it belonged to her.   
She did not catch the slight smirk on The Doctor's face as he listened.   
Lights flashed on and off and the Old Girl thrummed around them, winking and purring in a gentle soothing way.   
Danny's mouth gaped as he looked up at the column that rose above the console, the Gallifreyan symbols etched upon them, the sleek lines of the walls, the mezzanine floor around the outside, with its railed walkway, bookshelves and curios.   
A pleasant warmth, the feeling of being inside a living thing. A sentient being, with a unique life force at its core.  
"It's bigger on the inside." He remarked, as his eyes continued to scan the room.   
The Doctor rolled his eyes, and mouthed the same words, mimicking his doppelgänger, rather cruelly.   
Clara moved around the panels, her fingers tracing the levers and buttons, she came to rest at the Doctors side, their arms touching.  
"What are you going to do to him exactly?" She asked softly.  
"In a manner of speaking I'm going to actually kill him." The Timelord replied.   
"His cellular structure is going to be completely rewritten. All 37 trillion of them (give or take), will irrevocably change, he will still be himself of course, but essentially every cell in his body will be different. He will literally be a new man."  
Clara face became concerned.   
"Isn't that dangerous? Could it go wrong?" She fretted.   
"Potentially I suppose, but actually, I don't think so. The Tardis once did a similar thing to Blon. The Slitheen, it rewrote her, regressing her to childhood, allowing her to start afresh. This is a very similar process, in many ways, the Tardis knows what she's doing, I think it'll be fine." As he spoke the Doctor punched numbers and codes into the keyboard, tested various knobs and pressed buttons, the Tardis answered with a hum or a quiet beep to each new sequence.  
After listening to Her response, head cocked to one side, he continued, with a satisfied nod.   
Danny watched the proceedings with fascinated curiosity.   
"After this is done......will I forget everything?" He inquired, "will I remember you and Clara, all of it?"   
"Time will reset itself. It will restart at the point just after the accident, but our involvement will be gone. It will be as if we haven't been here."   
"What about the people the creatures have 'mopped up'?"   
"They will be restored. Everything will be as it was."   
"And Marina?" He asked hesitantly.   
"She will be wherever she was at the time of the accident. Everyone will be. Nothing will have changed."   
"And we won't remember any of it?" His voice trembled.   
"I'm afraid not. But it's probably for the best." He glanced pointedly at Clara, who coloured visibly, unable to hold his gaze.   
"Clara? Could I have a word?" Danny asked quietly, "in private."   
Her face remained scarlet, she shuffled her feet unconsciously.  
The Doctor smiled, "I'll leave you both to it. I have stuff to do under here." He pointed below the console, and promptly disappeared, leaving them alone beside the central column. 

Danny shifted uneasily. His hand closing over hers, fingers squeezing gently.   
"Clara, I don't know what to say to you." His face earnest and serious.  
"There's nothing to say......it's fine......I'm fine." She smiled.   
"But.......you......me........I don't know......I feel guilty.....I feel bad, ashamed." He looked down at his feet, then at their joined hands.   
"Danny, it's okay. It wasn't just you, you know, I had a say in it too. It happened, it was nice. I like you, you are a very sweet man. Marina can see it too, I've a feeling that you and her......"   
She tailed off.   
"I think.....thought.....I'd fallen a bit in love with you, I think you were aware of that......I just couldn't help myself, I guess. Like it HAD to happen. But I could never love you like he does." He touched his fingers to her cheek.   
Clara gave a dismissive scoff.  
"No, you've got it all wrong.......the Doctor and me.....we are friends, we aren't.....we don't......."  
"Clara, I might not be an expert in relationships......in fact I'm rubbish.....but even I can see love when it's pasted in front of me in neon letters twenty feet high. He loves you.....trust me. And you love him. Neither of you may have openly said it in words.......but it's there."  
Her eyes began to swim as she spoke,   
"Our relationship......it's complicated. It's so much more than a friendship.....or a romance.....or anything......it's just a deep.......I was going to say 'love'........but love doesn't really cover it either, it's more even than that. More than everything. It's all encompassing. I don't know how to explain it."   
Clara sighed, and moved closer to him, leaning into his chest.   
Danny enveloped her in a bear hug, swaying her from side to side, his lips kissing her hair, chin resting on the top of her head.  
"I'm going to remember nothing! How ironic is that? I sleep with a beautiful woman, she saves my life and I forget the whole thing!"   
"It's as it should be. We should never even have met at all. Besides, I think Marina has decided that there's more in you than in The Great Barrier Reef, and I think that could be the making of Danny Oldsen! Who knows what's just around the corner!"   
"Well, while I have the chance to say it......thank you Clara Oswald.......you are wonderful, and in another life....another time.....you and me could have made fireworks!"   
He kissed her, lingering with his lips against hers, for several seconds.   
It was she who pulled away first.   
"I have no doubt of that whatever!" She smiled. 

"Have you two finished canoodling?" The Doctors voice sounded from some way away.   
Clara and Danny stepped apart.   
"We weren't canoodling! We were saying goodbye! It's quite different." She retorted, in mock annoyance.   
"Looked like a definite bit of canoodling to me!" He shot back.   
"Ha! Like you'd know!" Clara replied acidly.   
"Are there any more goodbyes.....or shall we get started?" He changed the subject quickly.   
"Actually there are! I want to speak to Ben. Wait here, I'll just be a few minutes. I'll leave you two to have a cosy chat.....just make sure you don't actually touch....we don't want any dangerous energy discharges!"   
With that parting shot, Clara hurried to the door. 

Ben was seated on an old arm chair. Swilling brandy around a bowl shaped glass thoughtfully.   
His face brightened as Clara approached.   
"Okay, little lady?" He smiled.   
"I'm good.....I've come to say goodbye, once everything is back to normal, Time will start from the point just after the accident, Danny will be safe, but The Doctor and I will be gone, no one will be able to remember, it'll be as if we were never here."   
"I'll not forget you!" His tone was whimsical, slightly sad. "Where will you and your Doctor go then, little Clara?"   
"Oh, who knows! Anywhere and everywhere. I never really know with the Doctor."   
He sighed, his face taking on a dazed expression, almost as if he were in a trance.   
"I see something, Clara, and I want you to listen carefully to me. Travelling with your Doctor, is fun, I'm sure, but it's made you reckless. Nah! " he raised his hand to stop her interrupting. " Hear me out! I saw what you did when you saved Danny, you didn't even think. Not for a second. And you should. You mustn't get careless. I see something, I don't understand it, but it troubles me. I see two of you. One is you, and the other........I don't know, it's like a set of identical twins or a sister maybe. But I see great danger."   
Clara laughed.  
"That doesn't sound right. I don't have a sister!"   
"Clara! Please, take heed.....I see you and another you, and I see great upheavals for you and the Doctor. There's a great black bird, flying around you, it's a portent of something, and I just caution you to take care.....look to yourself......your safety. Don't do anything rash. Think a moment before you act. I'm not the only one who feels this. Your Timelord feels it too."   
"The Doctor? He's not scared for me. We are fine, we are careful, why only the other week he told me he has a duty of care! He looks out for me, he always does, he always has a plan, knows what to do, gets us out of scrapes......he's immortal!"   
Ben took her hand in his own. 

"But you are not." He whispered. 

Then, as if a spell was broken, he seemed to come back to his senses.  
"Goodbye Clara. I'm sure you'll have a high old time!"  
"Goodbye Ben, and thank you!"   
She kissed his cheek and they parted.   
Her last glimpse of him, standing, his hand raised in farewell, cap pushed back on his head, at a jaunty angle. 

Closing the Tardis door behind her, two sets of steel blue eyes turned to face her, torn from a deep conversation, they'd clearly been having.  
"What are you both looking at? Are you talking about me?" She said reproachfully.  
"Now that would be telling!" The Doctor smiled, but his features were somewhat sad.   
"Right!" He exclaimed. "I think we are just about ready!"  
"If you would like to stand there, on that circle, the beam will encircle you, and we can begin."   
Danny obediently walked to the spot indicated, and stood there, his face set, jaw firm.   
"Now keep yourself as still as possible. We don't want you being separated from any of your limbs. If that happens we can give you a bag to take them home in afterwards."   
Danny's expression registered alarm.   
"Joke!" The Doctor beamed.   
Clara hid a smirk. She looked at Danny and blew him a kiss.   
"READY?" The Timelord cried.   
He nodded his assent.   
The lever was thrown with a flourish and Danny was bathed in a beam of yellow light.   
"It's starting." More buttons pressed, a whining noise filling the console room. 

The Tardis began to dematerialise.   
It left Danny behind......standing in the street......in the morning sunshine in Ferness.


	13. Mending.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is left standing in the street in Ferness......

Chapter Thirteen.  
Mending.

A screech of brakes, and a burn of rubber, the car missing him and ploughing into a lamp post a hundred yards further down the road.

"Let's dance.....put on your red shoes and dance the blues......"

Ben gave a shout, and Danny was thrown sideways.   
Rolling over in the road. His face cut and bleeding. The old man hurried over to where Danny lay.   
"Are you alright son? That bloody idiot could have killed you!"  
Danny breathed, puffing air out of his mouth.  
"Yeah, fine....that was close! Bloody hell!"   
Taking out a pocket handkerchief he placed it onto the side of Danny's temple, to stem the flow.   
"Ow! That hurts!" He winced. 

Knox guided him willingly into the hotel bar.  
"Gordon! Get us a brandy......make it two! And you'd better call the Po Lis......for that idiot Ricky. I don't think he's hurt, but his car is a wreck!"   
The two men each bolted a shot of the brown liquid down their throats, with a flourish.   
"Phew! That's better!" Danny breathed.  
"I'm away to my hame!" Ben said with a yawn. "All this excitement is too much for me."   
He rose, placing his cap on his head, and clapped Danny on the back.   
"You take care of yourself young 'un!" He cried. "You've got a lot of living to do yet!"   
With that parting shot he ambled to the door, swung it open and left.   
Heading off towards is ramshackle cabin. His memory hazy, but still there, a violent storm, strange winged creatures, a brown eyed girl, and man in a blue box.   
His head ached. He needed to think. To be alone. 

Danny rested his arms against the bar, as the sound of a siren wailed thought the Main Street into the village. Blue light flashing.   
Another car drew up into the hotel car park.   
The door opened, and out stepped a beautiful blonde. The wind whipped her hair as she walked towards the hotel, a small suitcase in one hand.   
Her eyes widened as she saw who was sitting at the bar.   
"Danny! What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be back in Aberdeen!"   
He turned, his face brightening as he beheld Marina, the object of his desires, his smile growing wider as he took her in.   
"I could ask you the same question! Weren't you headed for the Barrier Reef?" 

She laughed, a merry tinkling laugh.   
"I was!" She replied, "but somehow it didn't seem right. Like I was running away. So I came back, there's work I can do here."   
Danny hopped down from the stool and crossed to where she was standing.   
"Why are you still here? All the Knox people are gone!" She continued.   
"I'm not sure. I didn't want to leave somehow. I asked Gordon if I could stay on a bit, I had some holiday owed......so......."   
His voice trailed off lamely.  
"Well, it's good to see you!" She beamed.  
"You too. I'm hoping to contact Felix Happer. I want to be involved in the setting up of the Happer Institute."   
"Well......it appears we'll be working together then!" Her hand touched his arm lightly.  
"I called Mr Happer too, I'm going to be heading up the Oceanographic Research Facility......oh, and guess what?"  
Danny raised a questioning eyebrow.  
"Mac Macintyre is coming back! The offshore Knox thing is ongoing, he's going to take a house here! Once Ferness gets into your head, it's difficult to make it leave!" 

The breeze was cool but pleasant. The sunshine warm for the time of year.   
Danny and Marina wandered along the beach, side by side, chatting easily.   
Her hand found his, and their fingers folded around each other's comfortably.   
"It's been such a strange week. I feel as though an awful lot has happened, but really I've just been here, doing nothing." Danny ventured, thoughtfully.   
"Yes, it is odd." She replied, "I felt so unsettled all week myself. Like there was something I had to do, and the nearer I got to taking that flight, the less I wanted to do it. I guess it's the fickle finger of fate!!"   
Looking down at their clasped hands, Danny looked at her inquiringly.   
"You didn't come back here for me though......you thought I'd be gone."   
"I hoped though.........Danny, listen. I don't know what's around the corner, but I realised something.....I loved my stay here, I enjoyed meeting you......I was happy, for the first time in ages. You can be an awful klutz at times, but that's rather endearing, you're sweet, I like you.......lets just go from there shall we!"   
His arm released her hand and slid around her shoulder.   
"Fine by me! He responded happily. 

Their steps took them nearer to Knox's beachcombers hut.   
"Let's say hello to Ben. Do you think he's there?" Marina asked, pulling Danny towards the entrance.   
"I expect so.......his shout saved me from being run over earlier, no doubt he came back here for a snort of whiskey."   
She knocked on the wooden door.   
The old boy's bare head peeped out.   
"Ah! There you are.......and Miss Marina too! Well I never." He rubbed his stubbled chin, with a smile.   
"You're back then." He said cheerily, "Felix told me he was hoping you'd change your mind."   
"What!" Her voice incredulous. " Cheeky old bugger! He knew I'd call him all along?"   
"Well, not exactly......I told him I thought you might." Ben admitted.   
"And Danny......I think your future as part of the Happer Empire is pretty much assured! Come in and have some tea!" 

The pair entered the little shack. The elderly fisherman made room for them amongst the crates, and old nets, the beach flotsam and jetsam he'd collected, the orange buoys, bits of rope, tarpaulin, and other clutter that made up his home.   
Danny homed in on one particular item. Lying on an upturned crate, along with his coin and penknife, where he'd emptied his pockets. It looked like a small electronic handset.   
Reaching forward, he picked it up, turning it over in his hands.   
"What's this?" He asked, curious.  
A button on the side caused the thing to light up. The screen displayed a picture of a grey stick insect.   
"Oh, that! I'd forgotten it.......but now I remember. It's just something a friend left behind."   
"It looks very high tech.......is it something new that's come out?" The screen faded, and Danny handed it back.   
"I don't think so. It's just a communication device. When she said goodbye she left it with me.   
But it's all beyond me, I'm not up on these new-fangled inventions. The wireless is about my mark."   
The kettle began to whistle, and Ben turned away to make the tea.   
"Who did you say you got it from again?"

"A friend left it with me. She said that one day I might need to get in touch with her.   
Her name was Clara!"


	14. Onward.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has been returned. Clara is feeling down.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The penultimate chapter!

Chapter Fourteen.   
Onward. 

The look on Danny's face as the process began, and the walls of the Tardis began to fade around him, was quite a shock to Clara.  
She'd seen that look before, on the Doctor, so many times.   
An inherent sadness at a loss, an expression almost of desolation.   
It brought a lump to her throat.   
A few hours before, she'd woken lying next to him, cuddled in his warm embrace, his face then had been blissful, serene and contented. Her stomach gave a familiar lurch, a pull of something she couldn't quite quantify. Or give a name to.   
His eyes had danced as they looked into hers then, a twinkle of merriment, of joy. Then it occurred to her, she'd seen THAT look on the Doctor's face before too. 

From the monitor they watched, as the creatures seemed to be sucked out of existence. The clouds began to draw apart, the rain and wind to cease and the sun to peep through, bathing the little harbour town in a golden light.   
They could see Ben coming up the road, hear him give a shout of warning, and see Danny catapulted out of the way, as if by an unseen hand.   
Time rewritten.   
The wound healed. The new Danny, unrecognised and therefore no longer a threat to the Space Time Continuum.   
He would have no recollection of her at all. Never recall that they'd kissed, that he made love to her, that it felt so nice, that she needed that, wanted it, welcomed it even. 

Since Danny Pink's death a long time had passed.   
A time during which she felt starved of affection, lonely, lost and desolate herself.   
It was true that between herself and The Doctor things had progressed a little. This non-hugging person, did now seemed able to manage at least that, even instigate it, or perhaps take her hand and hold it in his own.   
But it was not enough.   
Clara turned away from the monitor in silence, walked out of the console room and headed for her favourite place, the library.   
Tears were threatening to come, and she fought hard to quell them. She felt she was mourning for this Danny every bit as much as she had the first.   
It was obvious to her now that his similarity to The Doctor was the reason she was drawn so inexorably towards him. Despite his gaucheness, his dorkish exterior, he was very clever, it was his very naivety, his awkwardness that made him so attractive.   
Stupid.   
She was being stupid. Although it didn't seem to make any difference. Her chest ached, a tangible pain that refused to be ignored.   
What she needed was to be alone, she decided, to curl up, and not think about how wonderful it was to be in someone's arms again, however briefly. 

The large squishy leather sofa sank under her as she folded herself into it. Hugging her knees.  
Sniffing slightly. Feeling decidedly blue.   
A footstep soon sounded close by, the scrape of a boot, the chink of a spoon against a cup and saucer.   
Standing over her, looking taller and more handsome than ever, holding a porcelain cup of steaming tea, in one elegant hand.   
"I thought you might be glad of this, well, the Tardis did........" He ventured.   
She reached out and took the beverage.   
"Thanks." She murmured, sipping delicately.  
He shuffled uncomfortably, hands thrust into his pockets.   
"You okay?" He tried, eventually.   
"Fine!" Her reply just a little too quick.   
"Good! Well, that's alright then." The scepticism in his tone registered his disbelief.   
Still he lingered.   
"Right, well, I'll just be......." he waved vaguely in the direction from which he'd come, and made to move away.   
"Doctor?"   
He halted abruptly.   
"Thank you for the tea!"   
"No problem!   
She watched his back view as he wandered away.   
Lean, with narrow shoulders and hips, muscular legs, slightly angular. Before reaching the door he paused, turned and came back, standing awkwardly in front of her again.   
"I.....um.......I thought maybe you'd appreciate a bit of nano-tech? Cure all the bumps and bruises?" He played with the dual rings on his finger nervously.   
"Er, yeah.....okay. I guess." Her reply noncommittal, a shrug in her shoulders.   
He waited.   
"Med bay?" He said finally.   
Hauling herself up, she followed him, no spring in her step, no joy in her face. 

The procedure complete, she hopped down from the trolley bed.   
She'd remained silent throughout, morose even.  
"Clara? What's the matter?" His tone was almost tetchy, frustrated at her lack of communication, her downcast air, her stony countenance.   
"I don't know. I feel.......empty. I began to think about what would happen, if you never returned for me, and I was stuck for good. I felt lost I suppose. I can't shake the feeling."   
The Doctor huffed.  
"I would always find a way back to you Clara, no matter what."   
He watched, transfixed, as a single tear balanced on her lashes before spilling over and coursing down her cheek, heard the accompanying sniff.   
Before she could form another coherent thought, she was enveloped in a crushing hug.   
His arms right around her, bending himself awkwardly to rest his head beside hers. Pulling her tight into him, almost lifting her onto her toes.   
She could feel the soft wool of his coat, the feel of his hands splayed across her back, a tickle of his hair and a slight roughness of stubble against her ear and face.   
Most of all, she noticed the smell of him. Subtle, distinctly alien, a sharp, slightly citrusy scent, oranges perhaps, and clove. She breathed deeply, trying to take it in.   
"I missed you." She whispered.   
He released her and leaned back, looking up into his eyes, she could see his own darting across her features.  
"I guess I was scared I'd be left behind." She said softly.   
"Never!" He replied, and bringing his head down he let his lips touch hers, a gentle, velvet touch. He tasted sweet, like butterscotch, his mouth cool but insistent against her own. A growing warmth and depth she'd never previously experienced. His hand moved to behind her head, almost cradling it, holding her in place, when she chanced a brief peep she could see his eyes were closed, relishing the sensation. The kiss continued for some time, a mock battle of teeth and tongues, before he pulled away slowly, opening his eyes and smiling down at her.  
"That was.......that was......" She breathed, "wow!"  
"I do that now!" He announced, with a nonchalant wave of one hand.  
"Yes you do!" She grinned, " you most certainly do!" 

He held out his hand to her, then looked into her face, then back at the hand, a silent invitation.   
Placing her own small fingers into his large palm, he folded their hands together, clasping firmly but not too tight.   
Leading her, she followed willingly.   
Up and down the identical corridors, until they reached the main console room.   
He positioned the captured hand over the heavy lever on the control panel, tapping it gently, as if satisfied that it belonged there, before moving around to his left, to where the second identical lever was situated.   
Then stood, poised.  
A delicious gleam in his eye.   
"Where to Clara Oswald?" He beamed.  
"Take me home Doctor! Just for a while."   
A look, almost of disappointment, flickered across his mask of happiness for the briefest of seconds, before vanishing, to be replaced by an indulgent grin.   
"Whatever you say!" He exclaimed.   
"READY? Let's go!"   
Together they brought the twin levers down as the Tardis roared into life.


	15. A Life Well Lived.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara is back at Coal Hill........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. 
> 
> The story continues into the Zygon Invasion.  
> I'm afraid I threw in a couple of red herrings there, just to keep you on your toes.  
> The phone left behind is for another story!

Chapter Fifteen.  
A Life Well Lived. 

The end of the morning session was heralded by the ringing of the tinny bell.  
Chairs scraped as the pupils gathered their books together and prepared to leave.  
"Don't forget, I want those essays for Pride and Prejudice on my desk next Monday. No excuses!  
Grades go towards your final mark, so no slacking!"  
An audible groan went up as, one by one, her year 10 students shuffled out. 

In the staff room with a welcome coffee and a sandwich, Clara's attention was arrested by the New Scientist magazine, lying open and abandoned by Mr. Jones, the Science master.  
She picked it up and began idly to flick through it.  
An article caught her eye. 

_" RETIREMENT OF TOP ENVIRONMENTALIST COUPLE." ___

_"One of the worlds most vocal environmental campaigners, Daniel Oldsen retires this week." ___

Clara's eyes widened, as she avidly read on......

_"Throughout his long career Mr. Oldsen has campaigned and taught on issues affecting Global warming, climate change and the call for advanced research into sustainable development.  
Working alongside his wife Marina, an Oceanographer and marine biologist, he has devoted his life to drawing attention to the need for maintaining the fragile ecological balance of the planet, conservation, protection of the earth's resources and the search for alternative energy sources. ___

_Life and Career. ___

_After graduating with a BA honours degree from Glasgow University, Daniel, who is fluent in eight languages, went on to take an MSc, before taking up a post as an oil company representative. ___  
_Working for Knox Oil, the large Texan based company. ___  
_He worked alongside the renowned 'Mac' MacIntyre to help set up Knox Oil's vast offshore project in North West Scotland in the eighties. ___  
_It was here he met his future wife, Marina, an Ocean and Earth Science Oxford alumna, whilst collaborating on the foundation of the famous Happer Institute, a combined research facility for Oceanography and Astronomy. ___  
_The pair married in Japan, where Mrs. Oldsen worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the Japanese Whaling Industry, and her husband became the Government's Environmental Attaché, using his skill in fluent Japanese, to promote cultural, trade and ecological issues._  
_Marina has since carried out environmental work all over the globe. Monitoring and reporting on issues of pollution and biodiversity in the world's oceans, the destruction of our marine habitats, such as The Great Barrier Reef, and the coral atolls of the Pacific, rising sea levels and water temperatures, and the shrinking of inland seas. ___  
_Combining this vital work with motherhood, their two children have also taken up careers which reflect their parent's causes, and their own strong beliefs. ___  
_Their daughter, Joanna, also a University graduate and medical doctor, becoming a leading light in UNESCO. Championing Educational, Scientific and Cultural issues.  
Son, James, a vocal spokesman and investigator for Greenpeace. Exposing and lobbying for changes in world thinking, human rights and other ecological concerns. ___

_After more than ten years in the diplomatic service the couple returned to the UK.  
Daniel taking up a professorship in Geography at Cambridge where he specialised in teaching the environmental sciences, including atmosphere and climate dynamics, palaeoenvironmental change, coastal science, vegetation and carbon cycle processes, glaciology and volcanology. ___

_Many of his ex students were present at the gala dinner to honour him, and his wife, and celebrate their illustrious careers. Some of whom have gone on to become highly respected experts in their own right. ___

_His wife continued her own crusade to highlight the plight of marine life and ecosystems, educating on ocean circulation, plate tectonics, studying the geology of the sea floor and the chemical and physical properties of the ocean. ___  
_More recently she has become a top wildlife commentator and programme maker for the BBC, being hailed as 'the female David Attenborough', after several of her highly acclaimed programmes were nominated for television and environmental awards.  
Daniel also continued to branch out, lately publishing several scholarly and well received books on various subjects, including an autobiography, and works on the environmental issues that have become his life's work. ___

_The gala dinner was held last Thursday at The Savoy, and the couple were applauded rapturously by a large and appreciative crowd, as they stood to accept the plaudits from the assembled company. ___  
_Interviewed afterwards Mr Oldsen commented: ___  
_"We are both very flattered and humbled to be lauded thus. Everyone has been most kind. ___  
_We have only tried to bring our causes to the public awareness and to search for better ways to preserve our fragile environment.  
Sometimes a single event in our lives can trigger great change. For me that moment was in a little Scottish fishing town called Ferness. It altered the course of my life completely, and for that, I shall be forever grateful. Thank you to all concerned for a wonderful evening." ___

_Mr and Mrs Oldsen will, no doubt, continue their work, albeit in a quieter way.  
Daniel still writes articles for National Geographic and other scientific journals, and his wife is still in the background of television documentary making in a consultancy role. ___

_Article from our London correspondent. " ___

 

Clara sat back in her chair.  
A smile played on her lips as she thought of the young man she'd met, and how far he'd come.  
How glad she was that she'd saved him, and what he'd achieved with the life he'd been given.  
She tucked the magazine into her bag, she knew someone who'd like very much to see the article.

A quiet evening in.  
Some essays to mark.  
A simple dinner and a glass of wine.  
After a shower and a change of clothes, she sank onto the couch with a grateful sigh. 

The familiar groan of the Tardis as it wheezed into view in the corner of the room, snapped her out of her reverie.  
Clara couldn't suppress a grin of delight, as the door opened and his fluffy grey head peeped out.  
He was all in black. Trousers, holey jumper, long coat, boots.  
Lean and impossibly handsome, she mused. 

His expression expectant, slightly amused, eyes twinkling as he looked down at her.  
"It's not Wednesday!" She smiled, moving towards him.  
"Is it not?" He replied with a quirk of one eyebrow. "I lose track!"  
His arms pulled her in a warm hug. She could not suppress a sigh of gladness, at the feel and sight of him.  
His presence had become essential to her. His appearance in her flat at random times, made her day.  
He knew as well as she did what day it was, or wasn't, but he found it difficult to stay away.  
Seeing those dark brown eyes were what he lived for.  
How could he not keep coming back for more?  
"Do I get a kiss?" She whispered, muffled against his chest.  
"Do you deserve one?" He replied softly, holding her just a little closer.  
"I think so, I've found a thing I want to show you......I think you'll be interested in it!" She looked up into his face.  
"Okay....kiss first, thing afterwards!" He brought his lips down to meet hers, cool and soft, long and languid, devouring her own. Making her weak at the knees.  
It was some moments before they separated, both breathing hard, his eyes hooded, gazing down at her, a flicker of desire in his face. 

Curled beside him on the sofa, she opened the magazine and showed him the article.  
He read quickly, eyes darting across the words, taking them in. A smile of satisfaction spreading gradually.  
"I'm glad. Very glad." He beamed.  
"Me too! He was a dear. I liked him." She responded.  
"I seem to remember he liked you too! Quite a lot!" The Doctor closed the periodical, with a flourish.  
"I don't think so.....not really, he was in love with Marina......he just hadn't realised it yet." 

The Timelord squeezed her shoulder, tugging her upwards.  
"I need you for a thing!" He cried, springing up.  
"What thing?" Her curiosity already piqued.  
"I've had an emergency protocol message from Osgood!" He was pulling her by the hand, towards the Tardis as he spoke.  
"Osgood? But I thought......." He held open the door for her and she entered.  
"Yes! How about that! It appears there's about to be an invasion! We have rebel Zygon replicas on the loose!"

Clicking his fingers, the Tardis slammed shut behind them.  
Clara had a brief flicker of memory. A conversation with Ben Knox, when she said goodbye, a warning.  
"I see two of you, I see you and another you. I see danger for you and your Doctor."  
The recollection stalled her for a moment.  
"You okay?" The Timelord asked, as he punched buttons seemingly at random.  
She shook herself, coming back to her senses.  
"Of course! She cried, "Why wouldn't I be? Let's go!" 

Fin.


End file.
